12 MARCH 3, 2022 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
The path to maskless schools
Governor Kathy Hochul earlier
this week announced that the
statewide mask mandate in
schools will expire on Wednesday,
March 2. And Mayor Eric Adams announced
plans to lift the city’s requirement
on March 7 if cases remain low.
For months now, Hochul and state
school offi cials have faced increasing
pressure from a contingent of politicians
and parents who claim there’s
no longer a need for children to be
required to wear masks in schools —
alleging that it somehow hinders the
students’ ability to learn.
The masks have been a safety requirement
allowing students to learn
safely. It’s no diff erent than having
exit alarms on doors, or fi re or lockdown
drills, and we have yet to see any
parents or politicians demanding that
they cease.
Nevertheless, there’s now a reasonable
argument to be made in favor
of getting rid of the mask mandate
— namely the availability of the COVID
19 vaccine and antiviral treatments
that have proven eff ective at
helping people either avoid infection
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Governor Kathy Hochul announced the end of the indoor mask mandate in schools during a press conference in
Albany on Feb. 27. Photo by Mike Groll/Offi ce of Governor Kathy Hochul
altogether, or suff er only mild cases.
Vaccination remains the best
defense against the virus, but not
enough New York City parents are
getting their children vaccinated. As
of Feb. 20, just 44% of all youngsters
under 18 have received at least the
first dose, and only 39% are fully
vaccinated.
The overwhelming majority of vaccinated
children are teenagers — 88%
of kids 13 to 17 have had at least the
fi rst dose. Meanwhile, in the elementary
grade levels, the vaccination
rate is far lower: just 50% of children
had the fi rst dose, and 41% are fully
vaccinated.
The rate of children under 5 remains
at 0%, because there’s no approved
vaccine for this age group yet.
Preschoolers and kindergarteners
still have no real protection against
the virus.
While pediatric COVID-19 cases
continue to happen — the American
Academy of Pediatrics reports that
children comprised 21.9% of all infections
nationwide between Feb. 3-10 —
the hospitalization rates remain very
low, under 1.5% of such infections.
COVID-19 rates have been plummeting
in recent weeks aft er the omicron
variant-fueled surge, giving New
Yorkers even greater hope that the
worst of the pandemic is behind us —
and normalcy can be re-established
in full.
But we’ve said that before during
the pandemic, only for another variant
to come along and put a dent in the
progress made.
Students shouldn’t be required to
wear masks forever, but if we want to
see a mask-free school, parents must
ensure their children are protected
from the virus, and help reduce the
chances of COVID-19 mutating again.
To New York City parents, we say:
Do your part and get your children
vaccinated!
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