NIH Director Admits School Mask Mandates Are Not Based on Data of COVID-19’s Effect on Children

Contact Your Elected Officials

National Institutes of Health (NIH) director Francis Collins on Tuesday indicated that the push to make America’s youngest students wear masks at school is more due to concerns over potential school closures, rather than based on data of COVID-19’s impact on children’s health.

Collins weighed in on the debate over mask requirements in American schools during an interview with “The Hugh Hewitt Show.” When asked by host Hugh Hewitt about recent federal recommendations that children in kindergarten through 3rd grade should wear masks, Collins said that although young children getting COVID-19 is rare, unmasked students could cause COVID-19 outbreaks at schools, forcing their peers to return to remote learning.

“It is still pretty rare, but it is not zero, and we now have more than 400 kids that have died of this. So we have to think about that,” he said.

“If they’re unmasked in the classroom, you know what’s going to happen. There’s going to be an outbreak,” he continued. “And then what happens? The kids go back home again. That’s a bad outcome. So even if you’re not worried about their personal health, if you’re worried about the fact that we want them to stay in school, the masks may be an important way to achieve that.”

Hewitt, who was unimpressed with Collins’s use of the word “may,” notes that K–3 students are vulnerable to speech development problems that affect the rest of their lives if they can’t see people’s full faces. He then moved to ask whether there is data showing that kids in grade K-3 “are at greater risk of hospitalization or illness of serious sort from taking their mask off.”

“I wish we had that data,” Collins replied. “But Hugh, I don’t think you’re hearing me. It’s not just about that.”

“You’re worried about what goes on. But you just said there’s no data,” said Hewitt. “So you guys are guessing.”

Collins explained that the health officials are not guessing, once again pointing to recent reports about school districts closing classrooms because of COVID-19 cases. Hewitt, however, argued that school districts are overreacting to those cases since there is no data showing that the risk of suffering from severe COVID-19 symptoms outweighs that of developing speech deficits.

“You tell me, they closed because of the number of positive tests,” Hewitt said. “But was there real harm? Because if it’s the flu or a common cold in children, that was a bad decision and a panicky one.”

“I think we’ve created a concern about panic with outbreaks among children when the children do not demonstrate any significant [symptoms],” he added. “I don’t think you have any data showing that there’s a significant, greater risk of being sent home than lifelong learning deficits.”

“I don’t think we have the data on either side of it, Hugh,” replied Collins. “I think right now, we’re all trying to do the best we can.”

In its latest version of school reopening guidelines, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends “universal indoor masking” by students age 2 and older, staff, teachers, and visitors to K–12 schools, regardless of their vaccination status, citing the “circulating and highly contagious Delta variant.”

“The CDC really hates to have to make recommendations based on anecdotes,” Collins said. “But sometimes it’s what you’ve got at the time.”

By GQ Pan

Read Original Article on TheEpochTimes.com

The Thinking Conservative
The Thinking Conservativehttps://www.thethinkingconservative.com/
The goal of THE THINKING CONSERVATIVE is to help us educate ourselves on conservative topics of importance to our freedom and our pursuit of happiness. We do this by sharing conservative opinions on all kinds of subjects, from all types of people, and all kinds of media, in a way that will challenge our perceptions and help us to make educated choices.

Roger Stone Speaks About Trump at Turning Point USA

Longtime Donald Trump friend, Roger Stone, gave a speech at the 2025 TPUSA convention offering his take on the recent Epstein List controversy.

Dredging the Swamp For CNN RINOs

Epstein ran a multinational child sex trafficking ring to service and entrap political and business elites to blackmail and to usurp democratic governance.

Trump Turned His Head And Saved America

It was a turn of President Trump's head to view an immigration chart that saved his life. It was Divine intervention, God saved Trump so he could save America.

AI: A Double-Edged Sword?

AI produces innovation, revolutionizing industries from education to entertainment, yet AI tools also cause a gradual decline in human cognitive skills.

Why is the Epstein Victim List Longer than the Client List?

Bondi said her responsibility is to protect identities of underage girls sexually abused by Epstein, but a good number of victims have come forward.

A Year After Trump Rally Shooting, Town Still Seeks Healing, Answers

A western PA community has rallied around the family of Corey Comperatore who was fatally shot when a gunman opened fire at a Trump rally.

5 States Discussing Plans to Build Prisons Like ‘Alligator Alcatraz’: Noem

Homeland Security Sec Kristi Noem said five Republican-led states were discussing plans to build detention sites similar to Florida’s “Alligator Alcatraz.”

Wyoming Opens Dual Mine: Coal for Power, Rare Earths for Everything Else

Brook Mine will be the first new coal mine to open in Wyoming in 50 years and first critical mineral and rare earth mine to open in the US in 70 years.

Los Angeles Mayor Signs Order Reaffirming Sanctuary City Policy, Proposes Cash Aid to Illegal Immigrants

LA Mayor Karen Bass has issued an executive directive reaffirming the city’s self-proclaimed sanctuary status in response to ongoing ICE operations.

EU Won’t Retaliate to Trump’s 30 Percent Tariff, Countermeasures on Hold Until August

EC President Ursula von der Leyen said EU will extend suspension on countermeasures to U.S. tariffs until next month while trade negotiations continue.

Trump Announces 30 Percent Tariff on EU, Mexico

President Donald Trump has announced a 30 percent tariff on imports from the European Union and Mexico, to go into effect on Aug. 1, 2025.

Tariff Windfall Drives Surprise $27 Billion US Budget Surplus in June

New data from Treasury Dept show that surging tariff revenues in June helped U.S. government post an unexpected budget surplus of $27 billion.

State Department Says Reorganization Plan to Move Ahead Quickly After Supreme Court Ruling

State Dept to reorganize plans following Supreme Court's allowing Trump admin to proceed with layoffs of fed workers and overhaul of federal agencies.
spot_img

Related Articles