Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky said that schools are safe even if the teachers are not vaccinated.
Walensky’s announcement puts a dent in the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) argument to not return to the classroom.
From CNBC:
“There is increasing data to suggest that schools can safely reopen and that safe reopening does not suggest that teachers need to be vaccinated,” CDC Director Rochelle Walensky told reporters during a White House press briefing on Covid-19.“Vaccinations of teachers is not a prerequisite for safely reopening schools,” she added.
The CDC already pushed teachers towards the front of the vaccine line. They are only behind the elderly and health care workers.
The CTU has successfully pushed reopening schools until, hopefully, this week.
Preschool and special education students went back to class on January 11. But the CTU’s hissy fit moved them back to remote learning. They did this even though special education students probably need in-person instruction more than anyone.
The CTU and Chicago Public Schools (CPS) are currently in a two-day “cooling off” period.
They agreed on these points: temperature checks, mandatory masks, HEPA air purifiers, health screenings, and social distancing.
But the CTU is adamant that CPS allows teachers to stay home until they have the vaccine. Chicago moved teachers into Phase 1b, but officials stressed they do not have enough vaccines.
CTU wants a resolution of the accommodation requests rejected by CPS. Teachers made these requests because either they or family members have compromised immune systems:
Deanna Myron, a clerk at Curie Metro High School, said she requested an accommodation ahead of an initial August return date on behalf of her immune-compromised fiance, who had just finished radiation treatment for liver cancer. The request was denied, Myron said at a Friday union news conference.
CPS has already threatened to lockout teachers. CTU has already threatened a strike.
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