Should the children be 6 feet apart or 3 feet apart to keep the school safe?

The debate over how much physical distance is needed to safely reopen school may be nearing its end.

At a press conference with reporters, infectious disease doctors flag new evidence suggesting that whether a child is 3 or 6 feet away at school does not significantly affect the number of COVID-19 cases. I did.

A study conducted in Massachusetts and published in a journal Clinical infections, “It didn’t really make a difference,” Northwestern University’s Fineberg School of Medicine and Chicago’s Lurie Children’s Hospital, MD, Tina Q. Tan, said at a press conference to keep children 6 feet apart from half of them. I found that. Sponsored by the Infectious Diseases Society of America on Thursday.

In addition, last year’s data show that the school itself does not appear to be a “super-popular” environment, Tan said.

She said that the outbreaks that could have occurred in schools were related to exposure in the community or occurred in schools where protection protocols were not set.

3ft vs 6

A non-randomized study compared the incidence of COVID-19 in 242 school districts in Massachusetts. Some kept students at 6 feet and others at 3 feet for 16 weeks from September 2020 to January 2021. Distance between students 3 feet vs. 6 feet or more (rate ratio 0.891, 95% CI 0.594-1.335) after adjusting SARSCoV-2 infection rates in the community.

Areas with a physical distance of 3 feet or more vs. 6 feet or more among school staff showed similar case rates (RR 1.015, 95% CI 0.754-1.365).

Based on these findings, the authors of the study, led by Westyn Branch-Elliman, MD, and MMSc of Harvard Medical School and VA Boston Medical Center, concluded:[l]In school environments where masking is required, a physical distance policy can be adopted without adversely affecting the safety of students and staff. “

The CDC currently recommends that “a distance of 3 feet can be used in situations where teachers are vaccinated twice with the COVID-19 vaccine,” Tan said. She emphasizes that physical distance remains a major part of school recommendations, along with universal masking, hand hygiene, student and teacher cohorts, and the use of “as much” outdoor space as possible. did.

Children needed for herd immunity

Call participants also talked about a subtle issue that has not received much attention yet: how to achieve herd immunity to COVID when a child is excluded from vaccination.

Tan said that at least 70% of the population must be immunized, either by vaccination or by natural infection, to reach herd immunity. This means that there are no longer enough potential hosts for the virus to continue to circulate.

In the United States, 25% of the population is under the age of 18. Given the number of adults who refuse vaccination, herd immunity cannot be achieved by vaccination unless children and teens are included.

Tan said the availability of pediatrics is approaching, but it is likely to occur in stages.

Pfizer has completed enrollment in clinical trials for older children (aged 12+) and Moderna is currently conducting trials in adolescents.

The results of these trials are expected “by either late spring or early summer,” Tan said.

When asked if students from kindergarten to high school would be required to be vaccinated, Tan said it was “potential,” although it is not yet known.

Regarding the herd immunity timeline, Tan said, “There will still be people who hesitate to vaccinate or get vaccinated. It is found in both adults and children.”

There is always the potential for new variants of the vaccine to be ineffective, and if that happens, Americans will need either a vaccine booster or another vaccine, she said.

“For now, no one knows when you will reach group immunity,” Tan said.

Even if the United States reaches its 70% threshold, it won’t prevent people in other parts of the world from bringing the disease, she said.

“This is just one of these questions you’re thinking about, and it gets bigger and bigger.”