Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said Friday on Boston Public Radio that while vaccination for teachers is “not a precondition,” for reopening schools, it needs to be a top priority for state and local officials throughout the country.
The former inner-city educator commended Boston’s handling of school reopening, which took place this past Thursday. She specifically praised Boston Public Schools officials for prioritizing what she called the “blueprint” for safe reopening — factors like proper social distancing, mask mandates and effective air ventilation systems.
However, she also made the point that many cities and towns across the U.S. don’t have the money or resources to provide these kinds of safety measures, making teacher vaccination all the more critical.
"What happens in a place like Philly, where you can’t get the mitigating factors? Where they’re never going to be able to put the ventilation systems together in the next few weeks?” she asked.
“The easiest route to reopen schools is to get everybody vaccinated and have both shots in the arm, and the [two week] immunization period.”
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A CDC study published in late January found low transmission of COVID-19 in schools with proper safety precautions, which elevated pressure to bring teachers and students back as quickly as possible, with or without vaccinations for teachers, bus drivers and other school officials.
But Weingarten said government officials need to be accounting for the psychological stresses around reopening, as well.
"All the risk is on the educators, in terms of going back to school buildings,” she said. "The science is one thing, but the moment — psychologically — you [return to in-person classrooms], you’re always wondering if you’re the case, if you’re the one in 100.”
“The difference between educators and so many other frontline workers is: What happens when a child takes off her mask? What happens when kids in a class just for a moment … forget about the social distancing? You’re dealing with lots of other factors on an ongoing basis, that make some of the mitigation hard,” she said.
