PA Issues New COVID Guidance For Unvaccinated Children

PENNSYLVANIA — As the state's vaccination efforts continue to accelerate, there remains one final group that is still left behind: children under the age of 12.

While the Pfizer vaccine has been approved for anyone age 12 and up, no authorizations have yet been issued for any vaccine for younger children. Pennsylvania officials said earlier in the spring that they anticipated such approvals to come in the summer, in time for next fall's school year, but in the meantime, they're urging caution.

Part of the updated guidance recommends that children between the ages of 2 and 12 wear face coverings in public settings, events, and anywhere indoors when they're near individuals not in their households.

“As summer approaches and more and more Pennsylvanians are getting vaccinated, we are all hoping to return to some sense of normalcy," Department of Human Services Acting Secretary Meg Snead said in a statement Tuesday. "But this pandemic is not through yet, so I urge everybody to follow this guidance and continue working together to prevent further spread of COVID-19 between children and families so we can celebrate the summer safely."

The announcement is in line with the Centers for Disease Control's recommendation, and comes as families prepare for a not-quite-post-pandemic summer and all its attendant activities.

State officials addressed the issue during a public event at the Please Touch Museum near Memorial Hall in west Philadelphia. Museum executives said that they would require all adults and children to wear masks when visiting this summer.

"For us at the Museum, one of the key reasons we will continue to require all grownups to wear masks while visiting here, regardless of whether they have been vaccinated, is to positively model behavior for our young guests," Patricia D. Wellenbach, the Museum's president and CEO, said in a statement. "We will also continue to maintain our intensive cleaning protocols and timed ticketing even as we restore capacity throughout the summer."

It's the latest signal that although the state has fully vaccinated more than 55 percent of its over-18 population, the pandemic's effects will continue to linger in many strata of society for at least a few more months.

For children who are unable to wear face coverings, the CDC and Pennsylvania guidance recommends they pursue more low-risk activities like outdoor gatherings with fully vaccinated individuals.

Overall, the state's COVID-19 metrics have steeply plummeted since April, with a statewide percent positivity rate now down at 2.9 percent.