DC schools September vaccine mandate does not apply to elementary school children

[Anonymous]

The DC schools Covid vaccine mandate only applies to age groups for which there is an FDA approved Covid-19 vaccine. The FDA has not approved a Covid vaccine for ages 5 to 11. Approval is not expected until 2023, if ever. FDA authorization for emergency use does not trigger the age 5-11 mandate.

[Anonymous]

Are the 12+ vaccines out of EUA?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Are the 12+ vaccines out of EUA?

I think so. But I would not be surprised by massive and quiet non-compliance, with the schools looking the other way. They want to keep their attendance and graduation rates up.

[Anonymous]

If this came out when we thought the vaccines made infection and transmission very unlikely, this would have been very upsetting. Since we are likely to be facing an immune evading Omicron come fall, less so.

Has anyone heard from their school yet what Covid protocols will remain? I guess I'm more interested in knowing if charters will continue to do weekly testing and require masking. On one hand, why wouldn't they .. things are not different than when we let out in Spring. On the other hand, kids having had mask freedom all summer -- I know, I know ... not all kids but based on camp drop off and pick up many -- are going to resist going back and I feel for them. Three years is a lot of years.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If this came out when we thought the vaccines made infection and transmission very unlikely, this would have been very upsetting. Since we are likely to be facing an immune evading Omicron come fall, less so.

Has anyone heard from their school yet what Covid protocols will remain? I guess I'm more interested in knowing if charters will continue to do weekly testing and require masking. On one hand, why wouldn't they .. things are not different than when we let out in Spring. On the other hand, kids having had mask freedom all summer -- I know, I know ... not all kids but based on camp drop off and pick up many -- are going to resist going back and I feel for them. Three years is a lot of years.

I think compulsory masking is over, unless there's a large surge of hospitalizations or deaths (not just cases). That's what our charter has said, in so many words. And they required masks until the bitter end of SY21-22.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If this came out when we thought the vaccines made infection and transmission very unlikely, this would have been very upsetting. Since we are likely to be facing an immune evading Omicron come fall, less so.

Has anyone heard from their school yet what Covid protocols will remain? I guess I'm more interested in knowing if charters will continue to do weekly testing and require masking. On one hand, why wouldn't they .. things are not different than when we let out in Spring. On the other hand, kids having had mask freedom all summer -- I know, I know ... not all kids but based on camp drop off and pick up many -- are going to resist going back and I feel for them. Three years is a lot of years.

I think compulsory masking is over, unless there's a large surge of hospitalizations or deaths (not just cases). That's what our charter has said, in so many words. And they required masks until the bitter end of SY21-22.

We are in a surge

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If this came out when we thought the vaccines made infection and transmission very unlikely, this would have been very upsetting. Since we are likely to be facing an immune evading Omicron come fall, less so.

Has anyone heard from their school yet what Covid protocols will remain? I guess I'm more interested in knowing if charters will continue to do weekly testing and require masking. On one hand, why wouldn't they .. things are not different than when we let out in Spring. On the other hand, kids having had mask freedom all summer -- I know, I know ... not all kids but based on camp drop off and pick up many -- are going to resist going back and I feel for them. Three years is a lot of years.

I think compulsory masking is over, unless there's a large surge of hospitalizations or deaths (not just cases). That's what our charter has said, in so many words. And they required masks until the bitter end of SY21-22.

We are in a surge

A surge of cases, perhaps. But not a surge of hospitalizations and deaths. Covid community level is "low" and has consistently been "low/medium" ever since January. https://coronavirus.dc.gov/key-metrics

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If this came out when we thought the vaccines made infection and transmission very unlikely, this would have been very upsetting. Since we are likely to be facing an immune evading Omicron come fall, less so.

Has anyone heard from their school yet what Covid protocols will remain? I guess I'm more interested in knowing if charters will continue to do weekly testing and require masking. On one hand, why wouldn't they .. things are not different than when we let out in Spring. On the other hand, kids having had mask freedom all summer -- I know, I know ... not all kids but based on camp drop off and pick up many -- are going to resist going back and I feel for them. Three years is a lot of years.

I think compulsory masking is over, unless there's a large surge of hospitalizations or deaths (not just cases). That's what our charter has said, in so many words. And they required masks until the bitter end of SY21-22.

I 100% believe that many if not most charters will continue having compulsory masking and some sort of testing in the Fall.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If this came out when we thought the vaccines made infection and transmission very unlikely, this would have been very upsetting. Since we are likely to be facing an immune evading Omicron come fall, less so.

Has anyone heard from their school yet what Covid protocols will remain? I guess I'm more interested in knowing if charters will continue to do weekly testing and require masking. On one hand, why wouldn't they .. things are not different than when we let out in Spring. On the other hand, kids having had mask freedom all summer -- I know, I know ... not all kids but based on camp drop off and pick up many -- are going to resist going back and I feel for them. Three years is a lot of years.

I think compulsory masking is over, unless there's a large surge of hospitalizations or deaths (not just cases). That's what our charter has said, in so many words. And they required masks until the bitter end of SY21-22.

LAMB will mask in the fall. And they will announce it 3 days before school starts.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If this came out when we thought the vaccines made infection and transmission very unlikely, this would have been very upsetting. Since we are likely to be facing an immune evading Omicron come fall, less so.

Has anyone heard from their school yet what Covid protocols will remain? I guess I'm more interested in knowing if charters will continue to do weekly testing and require masking. On one hand, why wouldn't they .. things are not different than when we let out in Spring. On the other hand, kids having had mask freedom all summer -- I know, I know ... not all kids but based on camp drop off and pick up many -- are going to resist going back and I feel for them. Three years is a lot of years.

I think compulsory masking is over, unless there's a large surge of hospitalizations or deaths (not just cases). That's what our charter has said, in so many words. And they required masks until the bitter end of SY21-22.

LAMB will mask in the fall. And they will announce it 3 days before school starts.

madness.

[Anonymous]

Thank you for this reminder. Will DCPS decouple quarantine from vax status, or will it continue with its racially discriminatory policy?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for this reminder. Will DCPS decouple quarantine from vax status, or will it continue with its racially discriminatory policy?

If a policy is racist because it has differential impacts by racist, with Black people facing worse outcomes, then we'd also have to define school closures as racist.

[Anonymous]

***"by race" not "by racist"

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for this reminder. Will DCPS decouple quarantine from vax status, or will it continue with its racially discriminatory policy?

If a policy is racist because it has differential impacts by racist, with Black people facing worse outcomes, then we'd also have to define school closures as racist.

Yes I agree - school closures had a racially disparate impact, 100%. Somehow while posturing about “racial justice,” DC elected officials permitted probably the worst racially discriminatory educational policy since segregation. And … crickets about it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Thank you for this reminder. Will DCPS decouple quarantine from vax status, or will it continue with its racially discriminatory policy?

If a policy is racist because it has differential impacts by racist, with Black people facing worse outcomes, then we'd also have to define school closures as racist.

Yes I agree - school closures had a racially disparate impact, 100%. Somehow while posturing about “racial justice,” DC elected officials permitted probably the worst racially discriminatory educational policy since segregation. And … crickets about it.

I think both of these issues are complicated by the fact that Black families are favoring the policies that disproportionately hurt the education of Black kids.

I don't know what to make of it.