DESE updates school quarantine guidance, FDA approves vaccine for kids 5-11

Recent weeks have seen two developments to help keep more children in school as the COVID-19 pandemic continues.

In late October, the US Food and Drug Administration authorized the emergency use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine to include children ages 5 through 11.

Additionally, the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education announced a new “Test to Stay” option for school quarantines.

The updated guidance may give students the option to stay at school and participate in extracurricular activities after being exposed to the coronavirus. The guidelines are for those with no symptoms who must properly wear a mask for 14 days after exposure and have at least three negative rapid COVID-19 tests in the first seven days.

DESE advised it is ultimately up to the local public health agency. Nodaway County Health Center Administrator Tom Patterson reviewed the guidance with the county commissioners on November 9, leaving it up to the schools to decide how to proceed.

“We are still very much in the thinking stage of ‘Test to Stay,’” Northeast Nodaway R-V School Nurse Terry Runde, RN, said.

Her biggest concern right now, however, is getting more of the student population vaccinated.

“I wish there was a way to dispel the myths behind getting the COVID vaccine,” she said. “We have many parents who are too scared to get their kids vaccinated.”

She said the district has just 19.6 percent of students ages 12 to 18 years who are fully vaccinated at this time.

“Now that the FDA has approved the Pfizer vaccine for 5-to-11-year olds, we could get even more of our student population covered,” she said.

If a fully vaccinated student is identified as a close contact at Northeast Nodaway, Runde said they can still come to school and can also participate in after-school activities. They must wear a mask for 10 days and will only be excluded from in-person learning and activities if they become symptomatic.

“My plea to parents would be to get yourself and your kids, ages five years and older, vaccinated,” Runde said. “Help protect your whole family, younger siblings and at-risk family members, and slow the spread of COVID-19 in our schools and communities.”

As of the November 8 Nodaway County Health Department report, there are 81 active cases, up from 52 cases a week earlier.