According to this study, an unvaccinated teacher infected more than a dozen students and some of their parents.
It was May 2021, the school year was coming to an end and Marin County was about to reach a milestone with the highest vaccination rate in the country.
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A month before this milestone was reached, an outbreak of COVID-19 occurred at a school.
“We had someone lowering their guard,” said Mary Jane Burke, a superintendent of schools in Marin County.
On Friday, the CDC released a study that provides information about an outbreak of COVID-19 at an unnamed elementary school in Marin County. It shows that 22 students were infected with COVID by an unvaccinated teacher.
“An unvaccinated person and someone who took off their mask to read to children from time to time. If it weren’t for Delta, we wouldn’t have seen this outbreak,” said Dr. Lisa Santora, Marin County’s non-commissioned officer of public health.
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The lead author of this article is Marin County Public Health Epidemiologist Tracy Lam Hine.
“Students who were sitting in front of the classroom closest to the teacher were at higher risk, and we noticed that the infection in the students started appearing very quickly right after,” Tracy Lam-Hine said.
Lam-Hine says the follow-up of contacts led them to the teacher and confirmed that while this group of students were too young to be vaccinated, they were not seriously ill.
“The most common report of symptoms was fever or headache and cough,” Lam-Hine said.
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The Marin County deputy director of public health says the outbreak provided some of the first signs that Delta was different and that advanced cases were occurring.
“Some of the parents who got sick were asymptomatic, were vaccinated, asymptomatic and underwent the test and found out they were positive,” Dr. Lisa Santora said, adding:
According to the Marin County School District, out of every 6,000 school staff, about 200 are not vaccinated.
To work at school, they must wear a mask inside and get tested at least once a week, but vaccinations are not mandatory.
Pen light: “Do you think teachers should be given a mandate to get vaccinated?”
Mary Jane Burke: “Yeah yeah.”
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The Marin County Superintendent of Schools says this outbreak makes them study the possibility of prescribing vaccines.
“It’s very likely that you won’t be able to continue working with children without being completely vaccinated,” Mary Jane Burke said.
The Deputy Public Health Deputy says forcing teachers to get vaccinated is not part of his plan.
“When everyone wears masks inside and out, when staff are completely vaccinated. When people stay home when they’re sick. We don’t see school broadcasting,” Dr. Santora
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