Good Morning America, ABC-TV August 2021
“Here we are on the cusp of another school year and we have the delta variant rising; we have kids under 12 who cannot even be vaccinated; and at the same time we have companies saying, ‘Everybody back in the office,’ and also schools saying, ‘Everybody back to school.”
Alicia Sasser Modestino
Amid a COVID-19 surge brought on by the more contagious delta variant and low vaccination rates, the number of pediatric cases of COVID-19 in the United States is rising, just as the school year begins. In one Florida school district where there are no mask requirements, over 8,000 students have been isolated or quarantined just days into the new school year.
“I felt like I was barely hanging on by a thread at the end of school last year and now I’m thinking I don’t know what I’m going to do,” said Sherman, who added she feels lucky to be able to work from home with her job at MomsRising, an advocacy organization. “I’m thinking of all the plans for ‘what if.’ There’s everything from a seven-day quarantine to [my kids] could be out of school for 24 days.”
