You already know where I stand on this issue, having conspicuously highlighted a Harvard Medical School professor's slap-down of Dr. Anthony Fauci just last week. Forcing young children to mask up is the sort of ridiculous overreach that will only fuel the raging wars over restrictions, mandates and vaccines – and yet, here's the American Association of Pediatrics siding with Fauci.
Masks for kids, all the way down to age three, they say. "Regardless of vaccination status":
In addition to vaccinations, the AAP recommends a layered approach to make school safe for all students, teachers and staff in the guidance here. That includes a recommendation that everyone older than age 2 wear masks, regardless of vaccination status. The AAP also amplifies the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s recommendations for building ventilation, testing, quarantining, cleaning and disinfection in the updated guidance...AAP recommends universal masking because a significant portion of the student population is not yet eligible for vaccines, and masking is proven to reduce transmission of the virus and to protect those who are not vaccinated. Many schools will not have a system to monitor vaccine status of students, teachers and staff, and some communities overall have low vaccination uptake where the virus may be circulating more prominently.
Upon seeing these headlines, I had the exact same thought as Allahpundit:
Wasn’t it 10 days ago that the CDC said vaccinated kids *don’t* need to mask up? And wasn’t it 10 days before that that a study published in JAMA Pediatrics indicated certain kinds of masks could expose kids to levels of carbon dioxide beyond the recommended limit? Now we have the American Academy of Pediatrics recommending masks for all students age two and over regardless of vaccination status. It sure would be nice if the experts could all get on the same page here. The fall semester is, what — a month away?
Here's part of John Sexton's summary of that JAMA study: "The researchers conclude that complaints reported in a previous survey of thousands of German parents (kids experiencing headaches, difficultly concentrating, drowsiness, etc.) could be explained by the elevated CO2 levels. The study concludes: 'We suggest that decision-makers weigh the hard evidence produced by these experimental measurements accordingly, which suggest that children should not be forced to wear face masks.'" You'd think that significant evidence that masks could actually be dangerous for kids, combined with overwhelming data that children – especially young ones – are at approximately zero risk from COVID, might convince experts to all get on the same page against any such mandates. You'd think wrong. So get ready for big fights about masking in schools. I suppose AP is right to underscore the positive news here, which is that all the experts seem to be in agreement that schools must fully open this fall, in person, no ifs, ands, or buts about it. If some teachers unions are fishing for excuses to harm students a little longer by pushing back universal classroom learning even further, they'll find no quarter among the medical and public health class. So...yay, I guess?
The American Academy of Pediatrics strongly recommends in-person learning and urges all who are eligible to be vaccinated to protect against COVID-19...“We need to prioritize getting children back into schools alongside their friends and their teachers -- and we all play a role in making sure it happens safely,” said Sonja O’Leary, MD, FAAP, chair of the AAP Council on School Health. “The pandemic has taken a heartbreaking toll on children, and it’s not just their education that has suffered but their mental, emotional and physical health..."
You'd rather have kids sitting in classrooms wearing superfluous masks than sitting at home continuing the failed abomination known as "virtual learning." Finally, since we've written quite a lot about vaccines, I'll leave you with this good advice to unvaccinated Americans from Sean Hannity:
Recommended
SEAN HANNITY: "Please take Covid seriously. I can't say it enough. Enough people have died. We don't need any more death. Research like crazy. Talk to your doctor... I believe in science. I believe in the science of vaccination." pic.twitter.com/tOi5ebpqSf
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) July 20, 2021
Also, here's a quick explanation for why the breakthrough infection hospitalization data out of the UK isn't very scary:
If 95% of a population is fully vaccinated and vaccines reduce hospitalizations by 90%, you'd expect ~2/3 of hospitalizations to be among vaccinated people.
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) July 19, 2021
