Covid Testing Program and Vaccinations
Dr. Noonan and Rebecca Sharp gave a second presentation on the ViSSTA program on Wednesday night. The schools will be providing at-home rapid tests to symptomatic individuals and will also, separately, engage in random screening of students and staff (this part is voluntary). The main presentation starts at around the 11-minute mark. It is only about 20 minutes long after that, so do watch the whole thing for the details. Ms. Sharpe gives an excellent overview. It was still unclear to me after the two presentations (from the 9/28 board meeting and the Wednesday presentation) whether participation in the screening program was required in order to have access to the diagnostic testing. Ms. Sharp clarified, via email, that the usage of diagnostic testing is NOT linked to participation in the screening testing (I mistakenly suggested they were at the LWV/VPIS forum). So a student does not have to participate in the screening testing in order to be provided a BinaxNow rapid test if they are symptomatic.
Two topics were discussed in the first 10 minutes of the video: 1) abusive language being directed toward school staff when informing families their child has to pause and 2) mandatory vaccination for participation in sports and indoor extracurriculars.
Regarding 1: Having a child put on pause or told to quarantine is not easy on families. My family had to quarantine twice in the winter due to exposures at my kids’ daycare, and it was rough. Thank you to the staff who are making these difficult calls, and we all should recognize the staff are just following the rules set out by the Fairfax County Health Department and FCCPS.
Regarding 2: I have been asked about mandatory vaccinations since the middle of July. I applaud the district’s use of all mitigation measures to ensure our children’s safety. I am curious about the decision process surrounding this issue because clear communication is extremely important. At the board meeting on September 14, Dr. Noonan said they were gathering data but (due to the high vaccination rate among students) he did not think mandatory vaccinations were necessary. To ensure the public has a complete understanding of the issue, I think it is important to communicate what changed in the two weeks between the 9/14 board meeting and the announcement of the policy. I am also wondering whether regular testing of unvaccinated students, like in Fairfax (for 12-15 year olds), was considered. When making policy, it is important to weigh the goal of a policy (in this case, further reducing transmission risks) with the potential impact of excluding students from full participation in the school community due to decisions their parents make, and all relevant alternatives should be presented and considered by the school board prior to decisions being made.
I hope to see you around as I continue knocking on doors.
