Vinay Prasad, associate professor of epidemiology at UC San Francisco
A professor of epidemiology at UC San Francisco condemned the call by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention to children 2 years of age or older to wear masks at school, and said the policy would do more harm than good to the development of a child and the national vaccination effort.
In a column for The Atlantic, Vinay Prasad warned state leaders that forcing young students to wear masks could hamper their language, social and cultural development skills.
He claimed that the compensation for the minimal protection offered by the masks against COVID-19 was not worth it.
‘There is no scientific consensus on the wisdom of mandatory masking rules for schoolchildren. The World Health Organization, which recommends that children 12 years of age and older wear masks in the same circumstances as adults, specifically advises not to mask children 5 years of age or younger, ”Prasad wrote.
Prasad said that while the children’s concern about not being able to breathe behind the masks was a bit exaggerated, so is the idea that masks provide important benefits in combating COVID in the classroom.
He criticized the effectiveness of most masks, as predominant research has shown that popular blue surgical masks contain little aerosol.
A University of Waterloo study found that blue masks were only 10% effective at filtering mouth and nose sprays, where tighter N95 and KN95 masks filtered more than half.
Students at New York City schools have had to wear masks for more than a year. In the photo, the chancellor of schools, Meisha Porter, center, with PS 5 students on August 17
Mother Melissa Jean, right, reads in her son’s preschool class while everyone wears masks at Phyl’s Academy in Brooklyn on March 24, 2021
Melanie Raybon, on the right, was in line with her classmates at the Occit Knob Middle School in Tennessee on August 12th. Students have the option of not wearing masks in the state
Other studies around the world have come to the same conclusion and Prasad noted a different study in Spain that looked at infection rates among masked and unmasked five- and six-year-old students.
The results of the study showed that older, masked students still transmitted higher rates than their younger, unmasked counterparts.
Prasad added that the masks faced another challenge, the fact that “young children moved with their masks.”
In addition to recommending masks for young children, CDC guidelines also require masks for most vaccinated caregivers who work in daycares.
“Many studies support the importance of babies seeing the faces of caregivers, and before the advent of COVID-19, many American professional organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, fully agree,” he wrote. .
According to a new Gallup poll, two out of five parents oppose all masks in schools, regardless of the child’s vaccination status, and just under half of U.S. K-12 parents want that all students be masked in the classroom.
A small number, 11%, say the mandates should only apply to unvaccinated students.
Students at the Ruth K. Broad Bay Harbor K-8 Center in Florida bring their work amid the state and federal government policy dispute
According to Gallup polls, about half of K-12 parents want all children to wear masks to school. 41% want students not to wear masks and 11% want only unvaccinated people to hide
Similarly, 48% of parents want to mask all teachers and staff, while 38% want there to be no masked teachers and 13% want mandates only for unvaccinated teachers.
Prasad also warned that the push for masks could disable people from COVID-19 vaccines.
“The evidence supporting vaccination is indisputable, in the form of multiple randomized studies, while the evidence supporting school mask mandates for young children is, at best, fragmentary,” he wrote.
“The problem with over-selling unproven recommendations is that you risk alienating people from well-founded recommendations.”
Prasad noted that because students had never had to deal with face covers in the past, it is difficult to assess the number of children affected.
Ultimately, he urged researchers to rigorously test policies that require all children to wear masks to understand the effects so that they can be properly weighed against the dangers of COVID.
Dr. Brooke Decker, left, director of Pittsburg Infection Prevention, argues with anti-mask lawyer Dana Gibson, as Pennsylvania imposed a masking warrant on all students
Proponents of the masquerade protested the state’s push for politics in August
States remain divided over whether or not to pass general policies on students wearing masks. Pictured are Santa Fe South High School students in Oklahoma City
On Tuesday, Pennsylvania became the last state to require masks at all K-12 public schools, joining states like New York and California.
Meanwhile, leaders in Florida, Texas and other conservative-led states have banned local and school mask requirements.
In Florida, the debate over mask mandates has grown especially so as the administration of Gov. Ron DeSantis removes funding from districts that set mask requirements.
DeSantis withdrew funding even though a Florida state judge ruled prohibiting DeSantis’ mandate as unconstitutional. The governor pledged to appeal the sentence, waiting for it to be set aside.
Meanwhile, President Biden’s administration is investigating five state bans, as Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona says they may constitute a violation of civil rights for students with disabilities.
Debates about masking and vaccinations are growing as the delta variant continues to spread across the country.
The United States reported nearly 40,000,000 new cases in the past 30 days and more than 638,000 deaths, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Almost 75% of eligible adults have received at least one shot.
