Covid and school, worries about returning to class in September

The debate around the return to school in September is ignited. After the CTS has made it clear that we will return to class with a mask and respecting the distance, today Rossano Sasso, undersecretary of the Ministry of Education, speaks of “a tendency towards waiting that certainly does not benefit the world of school”. While for Agostino Miozzo, former head of the technical-scientific committee “it will be another year to live in an emergency”. “If no action is taken in these summer months, the problems will be the same as last year. We currently have 82.6% unvaccinated in the 12-19 range. Miozzo’s concern is also linked to the fact that we did not structural interventions in schools “, agrees Nino Cartabellotta, president of the Gimbe Foundation. COSTA “We absolutely cannot afford not to resume the school year in attendance. We can no longer allow our children to waste further time and opportunities, in the awareness that school represents not only a training path, but also an educational and inclusion path . A greater effort must be put in place. There is no doubt that even in young people we must encourage vaccination, everyone must make their effort and contribute “, said the Undersecretary of Health Andrea Costa, guest of ‘Che Giorno è’ on Rai Radio 1. On the obligation of the vaccine to enter school? “Today is premature – he replies – We do not have the data with certainty if the problem lies with those who do not want to get vaccinated. There is no doubt that with the passing of the days and these data will emerge and at that point we will be called to reflect: if we had to to find in front of a situation in which many citizens refuse the vaccine – he warns – politics will have to reflect “. SASSO “The Ministry of Education has made hundreds of millions of euros available to increase safety within the institutes, thanks to the installation of ventilation, mechanical ventilation and sanitation devices. The problems of stabilizing precarious teachers are being addressed. and the overcrowding of the classrooms, but in terms of health there are still too many uncertainties surrounding the resumption of teaching in September “, he declares. “Simply saying that the start of the school year will be with masks and spacing, so exactly like in 2020, it is not enough. There are other fundamental questions that can have a profound effect on how we will return to class and on which we ask for clarity. health authorities and the Scientific Technical Committee: for example the issue of monitoring and tracing the virus. Salivary swabs, ideal especially for the little ones given their low invasiveness, were authorized after a long waiting phase, but then left the local administrations to proceed in no particular order without precise indications. It is necessary to complete the vaccination of the school staff – underlines Sasso – and one of the most delicate nodes of all, that of transport, needs to be defined. because time is running out and being caught unprepared for the appointment with the return to class would be unforgivable “. MIOZZO “Let us not be under any illusions, it will be another year to live in an emergency, the school opens tomorrow and there will be no miracles”, Miozzo tells the Press, according to which the Delta variant “will become prevalent and, probably, from now to September we will see an increase in infections. It will not go like last year, we will not have peaks in intensive care admissions or several deaths a day, but we will still be in an unstable situation, with outbreaks that will develop here and there. Without being a Cassandra, I wouldn’t feel too calm ”. “In Italy we have more than 2.5 million over 60s still awaiting vaccination – recalls Miozzo – it is a very serious vulnerability in the face of the arrival of the Delta variant. And I wonder: how many of these are school operators? 15% of the school staff, over 200 thousand people, have not received even a dose. The older ones among them risk serious consequences in case of outbreaks at school. It is a problem that must be addressed immediately. I believe that at this stage we need a strong moral suasion towards the reticent, but that in perspective we must go towards the obligation of vaccination for those in contact with students. If you have the possibility to get vaccinated and you refuse, you cannot go to class. “As for the anti-Covid vaccine compulsory to go to school, Miozzo affirms that “first all students must be guaranteed the possibility of vaccinating, from the oldest to the smallest. Maybe between now and the end of the year we can start thinking about this hypothesis, given that there is There are already several compulsory vaccinations for school attendance. In the future, treat Covid like measles. Of course, we must work hard and well on communication, to reassure parents about the safety of vaccines and the usefulness of protection. Unfortunately – he adds – it is logical to expect new suspensions of the activity in presence. However, if you do the no vax, you accept the consequences. I think it is normal that vaccinated people have a lower risk profile ”. “It is clear that by mid-September only a small number of students will be vaccinated – says the former consultant of the Minister of Education – even considering that up to 12 years, at the moment, there is no possibility of vaccination. This school year will begin following the known emergency procedures, with the Delta variant raging and circulating mainly through young people. We will have to enhance the other control tools: screening at the entrance, periodic swabs, tracking. These are things that need to be planned now, working with local health structures, because September is tomorrow. I believe that, to remove the mask in the classroom, it will be necessary to considerably increase the percentage of vaccinated people in the 12-19 age group. In addition, of course, completing or almost completing the immunization of school staff “.