On Monday, September 20, 2021, U.S. Secretary Miguel Cardona launched a five-day, five-state bus tour in Eau Claire, Wisconsin to highlight the return to in-person learning at the country’s public schools. He stressed the importance of COVID-19 mitigation efforts, including indoor face mask requirements, in keeping schools from encountering interruptions to in-person learning and moving instruction online as the pandemic continues to infect children and staff.
The initial stop in the “Return To School Road Trip” bus tour of K-12 schools was held outside with all students, staff, and parents wearing face masks.
Sec. Cardona also said he would strongly support school districts’ efforts to require students to be vaccinated if the vaccines are deemed safe, while expressing hope in the Pfizer company’s “promising news” in its Monday, September 20th release of data that show its COVID-19 vaccine is safe and effective for children ages 5 to 11. According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, as of September 9, 2021, nearly 5.3 million children have tested positive for COVID-19 since the pandemic began, but nearly half a million of those cases have come in just the past two weeks,