The Pediatricians’ Association recommends universal concealment in schools

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The American Academy of Pediatrics released new guidance about the COVID-19 virus for schools Monday, recommending that everyone over the age of two wears masks this fall, even if they have been vaccinated. The group said exceptions could be made for those with medical or developmental conditions that complicate mask wearing.

The blanket masking recommendation is a departure from guidelines issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention earlier this month, which recommend that masks be worn in schools only for unvaccinated people over the age of two. Wearing masks in the classroom – although they also said individual schools are free to implement blanket mask mandates.

However, the two sets of guidelines are similar in many other ways. The AAP, like the CDC, has emphasized the importance of returning to personalized learning.

Sonia O’Leary, chair of the AAP Council on School Health, said in a statement.

Like the CDC, the AAP has recommended a “multi-layered” approach that combines a variety of measures to reduce the risk of transmission of the coronavirus. In addition to mass masking, those measures include vaccination, improved ventilation, virus testing, quarantine, cleaning and disinfection, the group said.

The AAP developed several reasons for its universal masking recommendation.

The group noted that many students are too young to qualify for the vaccinations, which are only allowed for those 12 or older. Comprehensive masking can reduce overall transmission of the virus, helping to protect those who have not been vaccinated.

The group also noted concerns about more variants of transmissible viruses and the possibility that vaccination rates may be low in the surrounding community, which could increase the risk of an outbreak in a particular school. The AAP also recommended blanket concealment because it can be difficult to verify whether individual students or staff have been vaccinated.

Some state and local officials have already announced that they will not need blanket concealment in the fall, and at least eight states have banned such authorizations.

The AAP guidelines stopped short of explicitly recommending vaccine mandates, but said they might eventually be necessary. “It may become necessary for schools to collect Covid-19 vaccine information for staff and students and for schools to order Covid-19 vaccination for personal learning,” the guidelines said.

The AAP also encouraged families to make sure students catch up on any other childhood vaccinations they may have missed during the pandemic.

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