Voylette Bell, 7, writes down and draws positive affirmations on poster board at P.S. 5 Port Morris, a Bronx elementary school, Aug 17, 2021 in New York. (BRITTAINY NEWMAN / AP)
As the United States confirmed plans on Wednesday to provide COVID-19 booster shots this fall, the need for greater protection against the Delta variant of the coronavirus was evident with widespread disruptions hitting the country's schools.
Tens of thousands of students across the country are quarantined or in isolation because of the highly contagious variant. And hospitals are coming under strain again.
Under the plans announced by the administration of US President Joe Biden on Wednesday, the booster shots would be administered about eight months after people received the second dose of vaccines from Moderna and the Pfizer-BioNTech partnership.
The government said it is preparing to offer booster shots in the week starting on Sept 20, pending authorization from the Food and Drug Administration.
Initial doses will go to those who were fully vaccinated earliest in the vaccine rollout, including healthcare providers, residents of nursing homes and other long-term facilities, and other seniors.
The announcement on booster shots comes as the highly transmissible Delta variant accounts for at least 98.8 percent of COVID-19 cases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
More children are becoming infected and ending up in hospitals. More than 90 percent of COVID-19 cases affecting children now are caused by the Delta variant, the centers said. Children under 12 are ineligible for the COVID-19 vaccine.
Quarantines are in effect in Arkansas, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Florida, Mississippi, South Carolina and Texas, and more are being announced virtually every day as the Delta variant runs rampant, especially in states with low vaccination rates.
Under quarantine
Paul Byers, Mississippi's state epidemiologist, said on Tuesday that about 20,000 students were under quarantine－4.5 percent of the state's public school population.
In Florida, as of Tuesday morning－a week after the start of classes－more than 8,700 students and school employees were either in isolation because of a positive coronavirus test or in quarantine due to potential exposure.
Twelve states have imposed mask mandates in schools, as have the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico－a group that has grown in the past week. Nine states have banned school districts from imposing mask mandates.
"This is a matter of life and death,"Mike Siegel told USA Today. The parent of two elementary school students in Austin, Texas, and a former Democratic congressional candidate, urged his county to require people to wear masks.
In Texas, Republican Governor Greg Abbott, who is fully vaccinated but has tested positive for the coronavirus, has issued an executive order banning districts from mandating masks, though several are openly defying him.
The Paris Independent School District of about 4,000 students in northern Texas has made masks a part of its dress code for the academic year, hoping to exploit a possible loophole in Abbott's ban.
In New York City, a vaccination mandate is facing a lawsuit. It requires people to prove they have been vaccinated if they want to dine at indoor establishments.
A group of restaurants sued New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio on Tuesday over his executive order. The order took effect on Tuesday and also applies to gyms and indoor entertainment facilities, including theaters, museums and galleries. If restaurants don't follow the requirement, they will face a fine of US$1,000 starting from Sept 13.
The Independent Restaurant Owners Association Rescue and several affected establishments asked for a permanent injunction against the requirement. They said it wasn't narrowly tailored, didn't allow for exceptions based on religious beliefs and unfairly targets some businesses.
