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Aug 19, 20215 min read

How are emerging COVID-19 variants changing the outlook for the 2021-22 school year?

By: Sydney Carroll


While in last May and June students and school faculties alike were hopeful for the upcoming school year, with every new report about new COVID-19 spikes across the country, such hope for a restriction-free year fades away. While many expected to return to in-person schooling with a completely normal year, America’s students will enter the halls this year with masked faces, friendships from a distance, and shots in their arms. More than ever, students, parents, and even teachers are wondering how their year will play out, due to the rapidly changing nature of the pandemic.


How has the landscape of COVID-19 changed since the end of last school year?

While COVID case numbers were at an all-time low and vaccination rates were at an all-time high last spring, things have certainly changed. This is mainly due to the mutation of the original sequencing of the virus - as reported by Reuters, “The continued spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus has spawned a Greek alphabet of variants - a naming system used by the World Health Organization to track concerning new mutations of the virus that causes COVID-19.” These variants are often more contagious, more aggressive, and ultimately more concerning than the original coronavirus. The Delta variant, now responsible for the majority of COVID cases, has proved to be a major threat due to its aggressive and contagious nature.


Another huge backward step on the road to normalcy? Breakthrough cases; or cases of COVID-19 in vaccinated individuals. While rare, these breakthroughs do not pose harm to the infected individual: as reported by NBC News, “Approximately 1 in 83,000 vaccinated people died from Covid, which was even less likely than dying from hornet, wasp or bee stings.” However, vaccinated individuals are contagious, and can spread the virus to unvaccinated individuals, which is where the true risk lies. It’s worth noting that vaccines are still very much effective: both Pfizer and Moderna have reported that their vaccines are both nearly 90% effective 6 months after vaccination, much more effective than the 45% efficacy rate of the flu vaccine. However, breakthrough cases have changed the outlook of COVID-19, and diminished hope for returning to normal life anytime soon.


Will schools be in person, or online?

For the most part, it appears that US schools are making their best efforts to return to the classroom. While the US Census found that roughly 93% of US Households experienced some form of distance learning for the 2020-21 school year, the 2021-22 school year will prove to be different. However, health and safety experts have made it clear: students will not be in the classroom long if safety precautions are not followed. An NIH study in North Carolina during the last school year found that as long as schools had safety measures in place, despite surges in local communities there was little to no community spread in schools. Schools will now also have the funding to take proper precautions - the American Rescue plan allocated roughly $122 billion dollars to assist schools in putting safety measures in place, and the CDC is giving roughly $10 billion towards health screenings for teachers, staff, and students. Schools need this money, especially considering that Republican governors (in Florida, Texas, and Arizona, to name a few) have threatened to withhold funding from schools if they go online or impose stricter safety precautions. A recent article by the New York Times listed some of the best safety precautions for schools to take as:

  • Distancing of 3-6 feet at all times

  • Allowing proper ventilation in classrooms

  • Mandating masks

  • Hand washing

  • Quarantining

  • Contact tracing

  • Regular testing

Combined, these safety measures allow for schools to prioritize both health and learning as they return in person.


Do new variants pose a greater threat to students?

So far, COVID-19 hasn’t posed a large threat to children. Out of about 3.5 million cases of Covid-19 in children in the United States, the National Center for Health Statistics has reported, as of July 28, that 519 children have died from Covid-19 (fewer than 0.015 percent). However, due to the delta variant, youth cases are on the rise. Data from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) indicated that children accounted for 15% of new cases reported last week, with a total of almost 94,000 cases. Though cases are rising amongst children due to the Delta variant, hospitalizations and deaths are not, as reported by Healthline. Rather, the New York Times reports that the largest threat to children during the pandemic is another issue entirely. “Public health experts say that, in most cases, the risk of educational and mental health setbacks associated with keeping kids home appears to be far higher than the risk of complications from Covid-19 among young people,” they argued. In a study by Children’s Hospital of Chicago, 71% of parents reported the pandemic had taken a toll on their child’s mental health.


What about vaccinations in schools?

Currently, vaccines are not available to students under 12. This continues to frustrate parents across the country. New York Times columnist Michelle Goldberg writes, “As a parent with two kids between 5 and 11 who will soon return to school, I can hardly overstate the frantic helplessness I feel knowing that the country is awash in vaccines that could protect them, and that data about those vaccines’ safety in children exists, yet bureaucratic caution could force us to spend the next few months taking our chances with COVID instead.” Goldberg continued to lament, explaining that while trials on children have proven the vaccine effective and safe for children, the FDA continues to lengthen such trials. Dr. Lee Slavo Beers, head of the American Academy of Pediatrics, explains, “What has concerned us is there hasn’t seemed to be the same level of urgency in authorizing a vaccine for younger kids as there was for adults...Simply stated, the Delta variant has created a new and pressing risk to children and adolescents across this country, as it has also done for unvaccinated adults.” However, a change may come very soon. ABC has reported that Pfizer plans to submit their children’s trial information in September, with Moderna submitting theirs to the FDA in November. After that, it’s up to the FDA. ABC continued, “In general, federal and industry officials said they expect the first vaccine shots for children ages 5-11 could happen by the end of this year or early 2022. Timing on a vaccine for children younger than 5 is less certain, but officials have said they hope a greenlight for toddlers and infants will follow soon after.” While children under 12 cannot yet be vaccinated, experts urge parents to vaccinate their teenagers. Dr. Yvonne Maldonado at Stanford Children’s Hospital explains, “[teens] are the primary age group that could really make a difference in preventing transmission of the disease.”


While this school year may be different, it doesn’t mean that it will necessarily be worse. Although we may not be able to see smiles, share hugs, or even share gatherings, it doesn’t mean that students both in the US and across the world have to suffer. Rather, this school year will just be another step in the direction of finding our new normal.



Discussion Questions:

  • Should online learning remain an option for students amid the Delta variant’s rise?

  • Has COVID-19 changed the way students learn forever?

  • What steps can schools take to mitigate the pandemic within their schools?

  • How can the US address the deteriorating mental health of its youth due to the COVID-19 pandemic?



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