As schools return from summer break amid growing concerns of the highly contagious delta variant, most parents support school mask mandates.
The KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor said 63% of parents of school-age children polled by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) said schools should mandate masks for unvaccinated students and staff in the building.
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“Despite controversy around the country about masks in schools, most parents want their school to require masks of unvaccinated students and staff,” KFF president and CEO Drew Altman said in a statement. “At the same time, most parents don’t want their schools to require their kids get a COVID-19 vaccine despite their effectiveness in combatting COVID-19.”
In the poll released Wednesday, 58% of parents of 12- to 17-year-old children eligible for the COVID-19 shot were against schools mandating vaccinations for classrooms; 54% of parents of school-age children condemned a vaccine mandate, even if the Food and Drug Administration grants its full approval.
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The political divide was evident in poll results: 66% of Democratic parents backed vaccine requirements and 87% of Republican parents objected vaccines being mandatory.
Meanwhile, 88% of Democratic and 66% of independent parents supported masks in schools for unvaccinated children and staff, and 69% of Republican parents opposed.
The poll measured 1,259 parents with children between July 15 and Aug. 2.
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Experts say the lifting of mask rules and other social distancing precautions, along with the rise of the delta variant, have contributed to the worrisome trend of COVID-19 in America.
California will become the first state in the nation to require all teachers and school staff to get vaccinated or undergo weekly COVID-19 testing, Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Wednesday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged all pregnant women Wednesday to get the COVID-19 vaccine as hospitals in hot spots around the U.S. see disturbing numbers of unvaccinated mothers-to-be seriously ill with the virus.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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