Unvaccinated young children and teens still need face masks when school starts this fall

Utah pediatricians say cases involving the Delta variant of the coronavirus will likely spread in classrooms.

With adolescent vaccination rates below 40%, younger children still ineligible for COVID-19 vaccines, and schools banned by the legislature from requiring masks, Utah pediatricians say the coming fall could bring another wave of cases as the Delta variant of the coronavirus will likely spread through classrooms.

“I think it’s really concerning, especially when we have a vulnerable population under 12 who can’t be vaccinated,” Dr Tim Duffy, pediatrician for Intermountain Healthcare, said at a press conference on Friday. . “Personally, I would love to see children wear masks in school, especially in this age group. “

But Utah lawmakers have banned districts from requiring masks, and it’s unclear whether unvaccinated students will wear them on purpose.

“In an ideal world, we would have everyone who is not… vaccinated with a mask when they are inside in the classroom, and we would vaccinate as many eligible children as possible. If we did this, the school would be as close to normal as possible, ”agreed Dr Andy Pavia.

“Unfortunately, school districts and local health workers have had their hands tied,” he added, “and quite frankly, a lot of us are very upset and worried about this.”

Pavie urged parents to be proactive in trying to shape standards in their children’s classrooms before classes start.

“Schools can’t impose masking on, say, a 4th grade classroom,” he said. “But there is no reason why children, their parents and teachers cannot come together and do the right thing.”

Meanwhile, with a three-week wait between the first and second dose, it will soon become increasingly clear how many Utah middle school and high school students will start school vaccinated.

“If you want your kids to have adequate immunity on the first day of school, now is the time to start the series,” Pavia said.

About 38% of Utah’s 12-18 year-olds were vaccinated on Friday – more than national standards, Pavia said, but nowhere near the 70% or 80% needed for herd immunity, which would protect, for example, immunocompromised students .

“The picture this fall will be very different from what we thought it could be when things were better,” Pavia said. “There are going to be a lot of concerns about transmission at school.

But getting parents to allow their children to get vaccinated is proving difficult in the face of what Pavie called “malicious” and “deliberate” misinformation on social media: for example, claims that vaccine side effects are more serious for children, that adolescents are protected from serious symptoms if they contract the virus or the vaccine causes infertility.

“This is 100% hogwash,” Pavie said. “There are a few groups that are sowing Facebook with misinformation. “

Pavia and Duffy urged parents to make vaccination decisions for their children in consultation with their own doctors. “I think it’s really good to talk to someone who knows you personally,” Duffy said.