Unvaccinated Ohio Students Should Wear Masks In School: ODH

COLUMBUS, OH — Ohio issued preliminary recommendations for schools as they grapple with COVID-19 and prepare to open for the 2021-2022 school year.

Ohio officials strongly recommend eligible students and staff get a COVID-19 vaccine, unvaccinated students wear masks while in school, and schools should improve ventilation, maximize distance and encourage regular hygiene practices, said Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, chief medical officer of the Ohio Department of Health.

Documents containing the full recommendations will be shared no later than Tuesday, Vanderhoff said.

"We continue to see a pattern of COVID-19 cases rising again in Ohio," Vanderhoff said. "All signs point to this increase being the result of the delta variant."

He noted that while children are less likely to develop severe symptoms after contracting COVID-19, some students will still be susceptible to the virus and many can transmit the virus to more vulnerable populations.

In Ohio and across the nation, some children who have contracted COVID-19 have developed multi-system inflammatory syndrome, Vanderhoff said. That syndrome causes multiple organs, including the heart, lungs, kidneys, brain, skin and eyes to become inflamed, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said.

To that end, Vanderhoff said, unvaccinated Ohioans should don masks indoors and outdoors in crowded areas. That recommendation will include school districts, he said. Notably, Vanderhoff added, that is a recommendation and not a mandate.

Students should also have 3 to 6 feet of space between them in classrooms. If such spacing is not possible, students should be masked, regular cleaning and sanitation should be conducted, good ventilation should be installed and other safety practices should be implemented.

Outdoor air should be flowed into closed spaces whenever possible, both in classrooms and in school buses. Teachers should also consider utilizing more outdoor education opportunities.

Finally, anyone who is eligible to receive the vaccine should do so, he said.

"This is fast becoming a pandemic of the unvaccinated," Vanderhoff said.

"We are building on the layered control strategies that were remarkably effective at controlling COVID-19 last school year," Vanderhoff said. He emphasized the importance of in-person education for many students, arguing that stymieing the spread of the virus will allow students to remain in classrooms.

The guidance comes shortly after Ohio legislators and Gov. Mike DeWine barred schools from requiring students or staff from getting a COVID-19 vaccine, until the vaccines receive full approval from the Food and Drug Administration. All three COVID-19 vaccines — from Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson — were granted emergency approval, but not full approval.

"We anticipate full FDA approval for the vaccines soon," Vanderhoff said.