I wanted to write a direct plea to the CDC on behalf of the many parents who have written to me. I figure there is an off chance that someone at the CDC reads this. So, here we go…
CDC: Could you please, please provide some more guidance for those of us with kids under 12, who cannot be vaccinated? And especially for those with kids under 2?
- Is it reasonable for them to unmask outside, given the (very, very) low risk of outdoor transmission and their own low risk from COVID?
- What about kids who are too young to mask? I hear from parents who, basically, think they cannot take their 15 month old out of the house until he is old enough to mask. Is this reasonable? Or is the no-mask-under-two intended to mean children under 2 can interact “normally” without a mask?
- Relaxed mask guidelines are great…if you’re an adult. For parents, they sometimes feel more constraining. There are no vaccine tattoos. Now when we take our kids to Walmart, we cannot be at all sure that there aren’t unmasked, unvaccinated people wandering about. Maybe the consensus view is this is low risk for kids and we shouldn’t worry about it. Please say that if so!
It is time, I think, for the CDC to make some more concrete statements about kids, in particular, outside of their guidance for schools and camps. We of the small children are feeling abandoned over here.
I have opinions about kids, based on the data, as do many others. I’ve written about them before, and I’m sure I will again. I appreciated David Leonhardt’s take this week. But the fact is that the CDC should have the ability to collate these opinions together. And despite everything, they still have the trust of many people. So please please can we get something here?
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