Get the COVID vaccine or wear a mask at school, MS health dept. urges in new guidance
As the school year is about to start, all unvaccinated teachers, staff and students 2 or older are being urged by the Mississippi State Department of Health to wear masks in indoor school settings.
The MSDH released updated guidelines Friday afternoon for K-12 school settings, saying they are consistent with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations.
Gov. Tate Reeves has said masks will not be required in school settings, but that was before the ongoing spread of the highly contagious delta variant nationwide. Most Coast school districts have released reopening plans that will require masks only if mandated by the governor.
The other recommendations for schools that MSHD included in a news release:
- All eligible students, teachers, and staff 12 years of age and older should receive COVID-19 vaccinations.
- Schools should maintain at least 3 feet of physical distance between students in classrooms, plus indoor masks for those not fully vaccinated.
- Students, teachers and staff who are asymptomatic and unvaccinated should be routinely tested for COVID.
- Infected students, teachers and staff should be isolated, with contact tracing performed to identify and quarantine outside school settings those who have been exposed.
- Those with symptoms of an infectious illness, regardless of vaccine status, should stay home and seek medical evaluation.
- All students, teachers and staff who have symptoms of any infectious illness, regardless of vaccination status, should stay home from school and be evaluated by their health care provider.
Guidance for vaccinated students, teachers, staff
Fully vaccinated students teachers and staff do not need to wear masks indoors, quarantine because of possible COVID exposure or undergo COVID testing if asymptomatic.
MSDH’s School-Based Testing Initiative will help with onsite testing for individuals in school settings who are unvaccinated and asymptomatic and is also working with health-care partners to provide vaccinations in school settings for those who are eligible.
All Mississippi residents 12 and older are eligible for widely available COVID vaccinations. The state’s vaccination rate is the lowest in the nation, which is leading to a greater number of COVID infections.
