FDA Vaccine Advisory Board Member: ‘No Reason’ Teachers Can’t Go Back with Precautions, They Don’t Need to Be Vaccinated to Go Back

On Thursday’s broadcast of CNN’s “The Lead,” FDA vaccines advisory board member Dr. Paul Offit stated that teachers do not need to be vaccinated in order to return to in-person classes,  many other essential workers are back to work without being vaccinated, and stated that “there’s no reason” teachers can’t go back to in-person classes if precautions are taken.

Offit said, “I think teachers are right that they consider themselves essential workers like other essential workers that work in the police department or fire department or grocery stores or pharmacies or utilities. Many of those workers are also back at work without being vaccinated. I mean, they’ve done everything they can to try and mitigate the risk, to lessen the risk by masking, physical distancing, and other measures. And I think teachers fall into that category. We need to get back to school.”

Host Jake Tapper then asked, “So, if the schools have taken measures, as they have in Chicago, with new ventilation systems and PPE and sanitizing stations and the rest, is there any reason why teachers should not go back to school? I’m not talking about ones who have pre-existing health conditions that might make it especially dangerous for them to do so. But for a normal adult, is there any reason for them to not go back in?”

Offit responded, “No. I mean, the parochial schools in the Philadelphia area are open. I think the public schools, which I think face greater challenges in sort of making sure things are safe, have not opened. But, again, with things like this new antigen test, which is rapid, which is better able to detect whether or not somebody’s actually shedding infectious virus, as compared to just having sort of the viral genes in their throat, are all advances that I think can make this easier. But no, I think there’s no reason one can’t go back. I agree completely with Dr. Rochelle Walensky from the CDC that one doesn’t need to be vaccinated to go back to school.”

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