Kids And COVID: UAB Doctor Fears The Worst

BIRMINGHAM, AL — With some school systems in the state requiring masks and social distancing, and others making those policies optional, a UAB physician said he worries that the delta variant will spread through children rapidly.

Dr. David Kimberlin, co-director of UAB and Children's of Alabama's Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases, said in a news conference Tuesday that masks should be required in schools this fall to avoid the spread of the virus through the younger population.

"I see what's coming," Kimberlin said. "What is really hitting us already, and what is about to just absolutely slam us."

The "slam" Kimberlin fears are massive outbreaks of COVID-19 in schools without mask mandates.

"It doesn't do us very much good to launch into a school year, only to have to stop in-person learning because the virus is running crazy throughout the school," Kimberlin said.

The solution Kimberlin stressed in his news conference is to wear masks, social distance and get vaccinated. He said the state is seeing more children admitted to hospitals with COVID-19 than before, and until kids 12 and younger are eligible for the vaccine in Alabama, masking is the best way to stop what Kimberlin believes could be an unprecedented outbreak of COVID-19 cases in Alabama's schools.

"If your child is 12 or over, get them vaccinated," Kimberlin said. If you have cousins 12 and over, strongly encourage their parents to get them vaccinated."

As of Wednesday morning, Children’s of Alabama is treating 18 patients for COVID. UAB Hospital has 107 adult COVID patients and 24 convalescing COVID patients who are no longer infectious but cannot care for themselves at home.

"It is widely, vastly, rapidly spreading among children, and it’s filling up our hospitals," Kimberlin said. "This is our reality right now. It’s going to get worse before it gets better, and I fear that we’re at a place where already starting out, it’s going to end up in a place we haven’t seen before. It makes last year look pretty tame."

Although Gov.Kay Ivey said she would not force a mask order in Alabama's schools, many school systems went ahead and enforced their own mask mandates, much to the chagrin of many of the state's parents, who believe students having to wear masks to stop the spread of the virus is government overreach and harmful to their kids in the long run.

School systems in the Birmingham metro have varied on their mask policies. Vestavia Hills City Schools are encouraging masks, but not requiring them, same with Jefferson County Schools. Trussville City Schools are requiring masks in limited circumstances.

Related: Mask Mandates In Schools: Parents Push Back

Birmingham City Schools, Homewood City Schools, Mountain Brook Schools and Hoover City Schools have made masks mandatory for students and staff indoors.

The Alabama Department of Public Health released new recommendations for schools last week, which has played into the decisions of school officials in reshaping reopening plans.