Ayanna Pressley Calls For Vaccine, Mask Mandate In MA Schools

U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley is urging Gov. Charlie Baker to enact vaccine and mask mandates in schools and other high-risk settings, such as hospitals and prisons.

In a letter to Baker Tuesday, Pressley also called on the governor to resume collecting demographic and hospitalization data.

The congresswoman wrote that vaccine mandates are a "necessary tool to safeguard vulnerable populations" and said Baker "undoubtedly" recognizes this, pointing to his recent order requiring nursing home staff be vaccinated.

"That order should urgently be extended to other settings where COVID-19 transmission is highly probable and extremely dangerous, such as hospitals, schools and prisons," Pressley continued. "Because many classrooms, filled with unvaccinated children and lacking proper ventilation, have the potential to be petri dishes for the coronavirus, there is growing support by educators and public health experts for requiring vaccination for all school personnel."

Such a mandate is backed by the state's largest teachers union. The Massachusetts Teachers Association voted this week to support a vaccine requirement for all teachers, school staff and students ages 12 and older in public schools and colleges.

The MTA board also voted 46-4 to support requiring weekly testing for all students not yet eligible for the vaccine, or for students, teachers and staff with a medical exception.

"Requiring vaccines for educators and eligible students is a reasonable measure to take for the common good," MTA President Merrie Najimy said in a statement.

Pressley's letter comes amid updated CDC data, which found that every Massachusetts county exceeded the risk threshold for masking in indoor spaces. The latest CDC map labeled eight counties "high" risk and six counties "substantial" risk.

So far, Baker has shied away from issuing statewide mandates on vaccines or masks in schools. He said earlier this week it is unlikely there will be any additional statewide mask restrictions beyond the "strong" recommendation that unvaccinated students and staff wear masks indoors, while vaccinated students in seventh grade and older, as well as vaccinated staff, have the option whether to wear them or not.

"As families and educators prepare for the return to physical classrooms and in-person learning, it is time to for you to implement a statewide school mask mandate that safeguards our students,
our teachers and our communities from greater risk of COVID-19 infection," Pressley wrote to Baker.

Many school districts have included indoor masking in their guidance for the upcoming school year.

Some are taking it a step further; Acting Boston Mayor Kim Janey said last week that all 18,000 of that city's municipal employees — including teachers — will need to be fully vaccinated or undergo weekly testing as of Oct. 18. Salem is working with its unions for a similar mandate that includes a twice-weekly testing regimen for unvaccinated teachers and other municipal employees.

Read Pressley's full letter below: