At least seven states are restricting public schools from requiring vaccination or proof of vaccination for students, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Indiana, Montana, Oklahoma and Utah.
The decision to block schools from requiring the coronavirus vaccine is “flat out disheartening,” according to Dr. Chris T. Pernell, a public health physician and fellow at the American College of Preventative Medicine.
“We need to be practicing sound and rational public health recommendations and guidelines. To flat out prohibit Covid-19 vaccination is not in anyone’s best interest,” Pernell told CNN. “When states make that move, they get in the way of good and effective public health.”
In addition to coronavirus vaccines, many states are debating the necessity for masks in schools. However, Pernell said masks should be worn in schools, calling the coronavirus epidemic “a pandemic of the unvaccinated.”
“I’m masked every day when I go inside of that hospital. If you’re in a long-term care facility, you will be masked. If you’re on mass transit, you will be masked. If you’re at a jail or a prison, you will be masked,” Pernell said. “So for me, I don’t think we should create a different or another set of circumstances for schools where you have high traffic areas, where you cannot verify and confirm vaccination.”
Pernell told CNN the Delta variant is a concern due to high transmission rates and an increase in hospitalizations. Thus, masks and vaccines can prevent the variant from spreading in schools.
Without vaccinations, Pernell said vaccinated populations would not be “resuming some semblance of normality.”
“This is why our message needs to remain clear. We are not out of the woods. Vigilance needs to still be our main and primary goal,” Pernell said.
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