A healthcare worker gives a dose to a student of the Pfizer BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine during a Vax To School’ campaign at a high school in Staten Island, New York, U.S.A, Tuesday, August 10, 2021."This is what really worries me: In the last three weeks we've gone from number of children testing positive from 20,000, 40,000, to 72,000," she stated, citing data back to July. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, the number of children who were positive for Covid in the week ending Aug. 5 was even greater at 93 824.Randi Weingarten, president of American Federation of Teachers, stated that the second-largest teacher union in the United States backed vaccine mandates for teachers in preparation for in-person learning in the fall because of a recent increase in Covid cases in children.Weingarten spoke Wednesday on CNBC's "SquawkBox" and said that schools should allow teachers to get shots and allow religious and medical exemptions for those who don’t want them.Weingarten stated that children under 12 years old cannot get vaccines because the delta virus is highly transmissible. Therefore, we must be at school with our kids and our kids to ensure everyone's safety. "Vaccines are the best way to do this, masks are the second.Weingarten stated that approximately 90% of teachers have been vaccinated during the interview. He cited White House data. Weingarten did not advocate for immunization for students younger than 12. However, many children are still not eligible for vaccination.States have been increasing their Covid mitigation protocols in an effort to stop the spread of the virus among students and faculty as the delta variant rises. On Aug. 4, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker introduced a mandate to cover all students in the state, regardless of their current vaccination status.New Jersey issued a Friday mask mandate to all students and staff. Louisiana's mandate for public indoor spaces includes students in kindergarten through college.Becky Pringle is the president of the largest U.S. teacher's union, the National Education Association. She told the New York Times that any mandate for vaccines should be negotiated at a local level.This report was contributed by Reuters
