Thread by @AliHMokdad

I totally agree with my @IHME_UW colleague that we have failed to protect our youngest kids from #COVID19 and that we are about to fail them again. I will list his points below. 1/
seattletimes.com/opinion/we-fai… via @seattletimes

But first, my daughter just graduated from college. If she was in school this year, I will not send her with the current planned precautions. 2/

In the US, over 17,000 children have been hospitalized, over 4,000 have suffered from Multisystem Inflammatory Syndrome (MIS-C) and more than 400 have died due to #COVID19. 3/
sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

Vaccines and masks are our most effective tools to protect those who cannot be vaccinated, including children under the age of 12. 4/

Recent data on Delta, the new escape variant circulating in the US is alarming. Delta is twice as infectious. 5/
cdc.gov/coronavirus/20…

Multiple studies show that while vaccines protect against severe disease, hospitalizations, and deaths the protection against infection from Delta wane within months. 6/
medrxiv.org/content/10.110…

Viral loads are similar in vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals infected with Delta. Basically, an infected vaccinated person can infect others. The Delta variant also leads to higher rates of hospitalization. 7/
medrxiv.org/content/10.110…

In Seattle and around the country, we are at risk of failing our children again if we don’t properly deal with the Delta variant. 8/

We need better measures to protect our children. For example, the 3 feet of physical distancing recommended by @CDCgov, which @SeaPubSchools is following “to the extent possible”, is an outdated standard based on less transmissible variants. 9/
cdc.gov/coronavirus/20…

Seattle-area employers have adapted plans, delaying office returns and tightening requirements such as vaccination and testing. For our children, we are going in the opposite direction and relaxing measures in schools. 10/
npr.org/2021/07/30/102…

Early data from other states where schools have started in-person indicate this is a mistake. In Scottsdale AZ, there was more transmission in the first 7 days this year than the entire previous school year. 11/
abcnews.go.com/Health/20000-m…

In-person school is critical for children’s development and health, but in the face of the Delta variant we need more mitigation measures, not fewer. Let us protect our children. end/