The CDC has given its blessing to allow children to attend youth camps mask-free, but only if they've been fully vaccinated against Covid-19. The rest should still be masked for indoor activities and some outdoor gatherings.
Summer camps where all participants are fully vaccinated may operate as normal, without masks or other social-distancing measures, the CDC said on Friday.
Parents: Slow the spread of #COVID19 at camp. Get eligible kids fully vaccinated before camp. Kids not fully vaccinated should #WearAMask indoors. Outdoors, in areas w/ high #'s of cases, mask in crowded spaces or when in sustained close contact. More: https://t.co/BSgsPiqW0q. pic.twitter.com/ZdF1Ux1i4j
However, given that most kids won't be fully vaccinated by summertime, it's likely that many camps will take the safer and less complicated route: ordering all participants to wear masks. The alternative would be to check the inoculation status of each individual child and divide the unvaccinated into a separate group.
But after previous guidance that was criticized as too strict – essentially ordering that all children and adults wear masks at all times, even if they've been vaccinated – the new directive was hailed as an improvement.
“About damn time,” Senator Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) said on Twitter.
Now, free our kids from the lunacy of running track with masks and other nonsense.
About damn time. Now free our kids from the lunacy of running track with masks and other nonsense.
CDC eases summer camp guidance, saying children do not always need masks https://t.co/KExcqMiNDs
Until earlier this month, none of the vaccines authorized for use in the US were approved for children under 16. The CDC gave its approval on May 12 for Pfizer-BioNTech's Covid-19 inoculation to be given to children as young as 12. Since then, about 2.5 million 12 to 15-year-olds have received at least their first dose. Children under 12 aren't expected to start receiving their Covid-19 vaccines until the latter part of 2021 or early 2022.
The US summer camp industry is expected to start heading back to normal this year after the Covid-19 pandemic wiped out about $16 billion in revenue in 2020, according to an American Camp Association estimate. Around 70-80% of overnight camps were closed last year, keeping millions of children at home.
While the CDC still advises that summer camps require indoor masking for unvaccinated children and staff, it relaxed its guidance on outdoor activities, saying that “In general, people do not need to wear masks when outdoors.” However, it maintained that unvaccinated campers should still wear masks in crowded outdoor settings or during activities that involve “sustained close contact with other people who are not fully vaccinated.”
The agency also urged camp operators to be “supportive” of vaccinated staffers and children who choose to continue wearing a mask. It advised that in cases where it's difficult to determine who's been vaccinated, camps may choose to mandate universal face coverings, especially in indoor settings where transmission risk is highest.
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