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I keep thinking about this: the vaccine will have no effect on the whether elementary school kids go back to school in 2021. A thread.
Kids go to school part-time because it's the only way to maintain social distancing in classrooms. They wear masks, eat lunch in class & have no up-close interaction w/ friends. And that's, of course, in districts lucky enough to not be fully remote.
There is no vaccine for kids. Pfizer & Moderna say they will start trials soon but that's in kids 12+. CDC hope trials on younger kids begin in "2nd quarter" of 2021. Again, that's just trials. Very good chance there is no vaccine for elementary students in September.
It's September, teachers have had the vaccine, but kids still haven't. What happens? Do kids stay on a part-time schedule? Or do they go back to regular school and stop social distancing because kids rarely spread COVID so it's fine? So maybe let's accept it now!
What I want is for this to get addressed. September will look the same as now for kids. If we accept that kids rarely get or transmit COVID, they should be in full-time school now.
If you're a reporter who gets to ask questions of Gov. Cuomo or any decision-maker on schools, ask what will be different in September for any kid of elementary school age. Get a real answer.
Everyone thinks life restarts with the vaccine but not if kids don't get it. Parents can't go to work if their kids are still home.
I've written about my concern that we're literally doing the same thing next September, but I wrote it before vaccine trials were successful. I think people are now ready to really hear it: school may look the same in September as now. https://nypost.com/2020/10/25/if-they-wont-fully-reopen-schools-now-when-will-they/
