Vaccination Policies For Children Vary As School Year Nears
School starts next month for millions of children across the United States. Many students will be returning to in-person classes for the first time since the pandemic started. The rate of coronavirus infections has greatly slowed in the U.S. since its highest level. Vaccine doses are available to anyone over the age of 12.
Coronavirus cases in the U.S. have increased by three times in the past two weeks. Vaccination rates have also slowed—just 49 percent of Americans are fully vaccinated. The situation could threaten schools’ reopening plans.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) surveyed students in April. Among children aged 13 to 17, only 52 percent said “definitely will” or “probably will” receive a COVID-19 vaccination.
School districts around the nation are helping in vaccine efforts. Many districts have set up vaccination centers to give shots to staff, students and their families. Some are giving families rewards in exchange for shots.
Chicago has the third-biggest school district in the country, with 341,000 students. City officials said that by July 2, 78 percent of staff had received at least one dose of vaccine. In May and June, the city held vaccination events at 15 schools and gave out more than 1,500 shots to people in the community. The city also opened three vaccination centers in July to reach students and their families specifically. Each center can give up to 600 shots per week.
Mallory McGowin is the communications director for the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Missouri, now, has one of the highest rates of COVID infections in the country. Only 40 percent of the state’s population is fully vaccinated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) data says.
She said she hopes families understand that the vaccine is the most effective way to stop the spread of the virus.
“This is our best preventative measure that we have in place and we need families and educators to really consider getting that vaccine,” she said.
McGowin said the state is encouraging students and families to get the vaccine. They have offered help to school districts that want to set up vaccination centers.
Nixa School district, in southwestern Missouri, set up a vaccine center in April for students, staff and families. Nixa’s Christian County has fully vaccinated just 33 percent of its population, says the CDC.
Zac Rantz is the communications director for Nixa. He said that in April, 70 percent of school staff had the vaccine. He estimated that one-third of students are vaccinated. As cases quickly rise in the area, however, there are no plans to hold another vaccination drive before the fall school year.
“A lot of people have an opinion on the vaccine,” he said. “We’re letting people know it’s available and we’re letting people know it’s not required.”
Widespread misinformation about vaccine safety and effectiveness is a large reason why Americans are not getting shots. A growing anti-vaccination movement in the United States has led to lower vaccination rates among children for diseases like measles.
Some states let teenagers decide for themselves whether to get vaccinated for COVID-19 and other diseases. Last November, Washington, D.C., passed a law letting children 11 and older receive any vaccine approved by the CDC without their parents’ permission.
This summer, Washington, D.C., is operating COVID vaccination centers at middle and high schools. Some give families $51 gift cards for getting vaccinated. This month, some D.C. parents angry over the law took the city to court.
Michelle Fiscus is the former director of immunization programs at the Tennessee Department of Health. She told The Washington Post she was fired from her job because of her efforts to let teenagers decide to be vaccinated.
“The government is sacrificing public health… it’s a horrid dereliction of duty,” she said in an interview with The Washington Post.
In Tennessee, lawmakers had stopped all vaccine outreach to children and teenagers. Last week, it began again, but state officials say it will be directed towards parents, not children. Tennessee has one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country.
Teenagers and young children are at lower risk of getting severe COVID-19 infection and being hospitalized. However, the risk remains. They can also still spread the disease to school staff and family members.
That is why experts say getting as many people vaccinated as possible is so important. CDC Director Dr. Rochelle Walensky warned lawmakers earlier this month that COVID-19 “is becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated.”
Get the vaccine for “yourself, your family and for your community,” Walensky said. “And please do it to protect your young children who right now can’t get vaccinated themselves.”
I’m Dan Novak.
Dan Novak reported this story for VOA Learning English. Susan Shand was the editor.
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Words in This Story
survey — v. to ask (many people) a question or a series of questions in order to gather information about what most people do or think about something
preventative — adj. used to stop something bad from happening
sacrifice — n. the act of giving up something that you want to keep especially in order to get or do something else or to help someone
horrid —adj. very shocking or bad
dereliction — n. the act of no longer caring for, using, or doing something : the act of abandoning something
outreach— n. the activity or process of bringing information or services to people
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