In a news report that was updated by CNN Health on July 27th, 2021, the CDC is officially recommending that schools encourage everyone to wear a mask, regardless of their vaccination status.
It’s said that this recommendation is being made to help prevent the spread of the Delta Covid-19 variant during this upcoming school year.
Here’s a quote by CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky, which she delivered to the media during a briefing on July 27th, 2021.
“CDC recommends that everyone in K through 12 schools wear a mask indoors, including teachers, staff, students and visitors, regardless of vaccination status. Children should return to full-time in-person learning in the fall with proper prevention strategies in place…”
She also went on to say this.
“Finally, CDC recommends community leaders encourage vaccination and universal masking to prevent further outbreaks in areas of substantial and high transmission with the Delta various. Vaccinating more Americans now is more urgent than ever.”
This comes on the heels of a previous CDC mask guideline update/change where they said that fully vaccinated people didn’t have to wear their masks once they go back to school. The CDC also issued guidance to schools, suggesting that they prioritize in-person learning, even if all of the possible covid-19 safety measures weren’t in place.
But now, it seems that the CDC is updating its mask guidance policy once again, recommending that even fully vaccinated people wear masks if they’re indoors in areas with a ‘substantial’ or ‘high’ chance of covid-19 transmission.
During the press conference, Walensky also talked about why the CDC was so quick to change their masking guidance policy for schools in light of the upcoming school year. Here’s a quote from her statement.
“When we released our school guidance on July 9, we had less Delta variant in this country, we had fewer cases in this country, and importantly, we were really hopeful that we would have more people vaccinated, especially in the demographic between 12 to 17 years old…”
Three of the largest school districts in the United States, which are located in New York City, Los Angeles, and Chicago, have already said that they’ll be requiring masks in schools.
The top 12 school districts in the United States overall have also announced that they’re going to be requiring masks for the upcoming school year.
The only exceptions to this are in Florida and Texas, where governors in those states have banned all mask mandates and schools.
The hope is that these new masking recommendations from the CDC will help to encourage mask-wearing in schools in a climate where not everyone has been vaccinated, and where the Delta variant of Covid-19 is still very much a danger and an issue.
In the meantime, it still sounds like the general consensus is that the best way to protect yourself from Covid is to get a vaccine.
With the school year coming up quickly, it’s important to note that the CDC recommends that everyone 12 years and older should get a covid-19 vaccine to help protect them from the Coronavirus, and also to help stop the virus from spreading further.