Dr. Anthony Fauci on Sunday changed his tuned – yet again – about the Wuhan coronavirus pandemic. This time, Fauci said Congress needs to pass President Joe Biden's $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan before kids return to the classroom. According to the infectious disease expert, schools and teachers need "more resources" in order to safely reopen.
“I think that the schools really do need more resources and that's the reason why the national relief act that we're talking about getting passed, we need that. The schools need more resources," Fauci told ABC News' George Stephanopoulos.
According to the doctor, the Centers for Disease Control's new guidelines, which include making vaccines for teachers a priority (but not a requirement) and adjusting hybrid and fully in-person learning based on community spread, is the first time the guidelines have been put on paper.
“It's the first time that it’s been put down in a document based on scientific observations and data over the last several months to a year, both in the United States and elsewhere," he explained.
“I think it can be done. I mean, obviously it's not a perfect situation, but it's really important to get the children back to school in a safest way as possible. Safe for the children, but also safe for the teachers and the other educators,” Fauci said.
Dr. Fauci tells @gstephanopoulos "schools need more resources" to combat COVID-19 effectively, adding "it can be done."
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) February 14, 2021
"Obviously it's not a perfect situation, but it's really important to get the children back to school in the safest way possible." https://t.co/AsaBejuXu6 pic.twitter.com/INndliCji3
The White House has said they have a goal of getting the majority of schools opened within their first 100 days in office. That tune quickly changed to mean K-8, with no clear guidelines of when high schoolers would return to in-person instruction.
The Biden administration has found themselves caught between a rock and a hard place, especially when they fail to call out teachers' unions, refusing to return to work until everyone is vaccinated. Plus, Press Secretary Jen Psaki said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky was speaking in her "personal capacity" when Walensky talked about teachers being able to go back to school without the vaccine.