Pediatrics Group Suggests Schools Should Implement Mask Mandate for Children

The American Academy of Pediatrics, said that it recommends all children over the age of 2 wear masks when returning to schools this year despite being fully vaccinated. The pediatrics group said it is important for children to return to in-person learning this year. The AAP had also recommended that school staff also wear masks, according to an NBC News report.

The AAP is dubbing the new guidance as a "layered approach."

Sonja O'Leary, chair of the AAP Council on School Health, said that they need to prioritize getting children back into schools with their friends and their teachers, adding that they play a role in ensuring it happens safely.

O'Leary noted that combining layers of protection that include vaccinations, proper hygiene, and wearing masks, will make in-person learning safe and possible.

AAP's Dr. Sara Bode also said that some people cannot get vaccinated. Bode said that universal masking is one of those tools that is proven effective in protecting people, according to a CBS News report.

Jen Psaki, White House press secretary, said that U.S. President Joe Biden would rely on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's recommendations. She also noted that the different guidelines can be confusing to parents.

Psaki said that there will be different decisions made by school districts, just as how local communities make decisions.

The press secretary said that they will still depend on the CDC for guidelines and guidance.

AAP said that several schools will not have the means to monitor the vaccination status of those involved in their community, such as students, teachers, and staff.

They also noted that some communities have low vaccination uptake where the virus may be circulating more prominently.

CDC reported that 99.5 percent of hospitalizations are people who were not immunized. The health agency earlier said that vaccinated adults and teens can go without a mask, according to an ABC News Go report.

CDC Mask Mandate

Meanwhile, surgeon general Vivek Murthy defended the CDC's decision to lift the mask mandate for all vaccinated individuals after earning criticisms from leading health experts, saying that the decision may have been premature.

Murthy said that the decision was meant to give flexibility to individuals and localities to make their own decisions about mask mandates, according to The Hill report.

The revised guidance has come under criticism when new COVID cases in the U.S. have grown due to the highly contagious delta variant.

Non-vaccinated individuals have accounted for the huge majority of new deaths and hospitalizations.

Former U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams took on Twitter to express his worries, saying that the CDC had made its decision prematurely and was a harmful move.

Las Vegas and Los Angeles had already reimplemented masks indoors for the vaccinated and unvaccinated, according to another The Hill report.

In Las Vegas, the Southern Nevada Health District said that it wants individuals to mask up despite their vaccination status due to the rising cases in the area.

The same decision was announced in Los Angeles, with masks being required in most indoor settings despite being vaccinated or not.

This article is owned by Latin Post

Written by Mary Webber

WATCH: Indoor Mask Mandates To Be Reinstated in Los Angeles - from NBC News