Internal medicine specialist and viral researcher, Jorge Rodriguez appeared on Tuesday’s “CNN Newsroom” with Ana Cabrera to discuss vaccine and mask mandates.
“How critical is a white house win here, how critical is this vaccine mandate to ending the pandemic,” Cabrera asked Rodriguez to open the segment.
A federal court temporarily blocked the Biden administration’s rule requiring companies with over 100 workers to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations or test their workers weekly, citing “grave statutory and constitutional issues.”
“I think mandates, which I like to call requirements because nobody is being forced to be vaccinated, is going to be essential,” said Rodriguez, “people need to realize that not getting vaccinated has consequences, not just for them but others.” (RELATED: Will A Vaccine Mandate Trigger The Great Resignation?)
“I think the health of the general population, at this point, supersedes the rights of the individual,” said Rodriguez.
“The virus is going to land on people who are not vaccinated and they’re going to get the sickest, and in this case, it’s children,” said Rodriguez. “It’s too early to stop requiring children to wear masks.”
According to CDC data, 94 children between the ages of 5 and 11 died from COVID-19, amounting to 1.7% of all deaths of children in that age bracket, between January of 2020 and Oct. 16, 2021.
“Europe is seeing its highest COVID percentages that it’s seen in almost a year, there’s a storm on the horizon and it’s coming over. Yes it’s too soon to lift mandates for masks, especially in children,” said Rodriguez.
“When will it be safe? Your guess is as good as mine. But I would say, hopefully a year, maybe two.”
The CDC website states that cases in children are seen to be “paralleling trends observed among adults.” However, according to the CDC website, COVID-19 transmission among students is “relatively rare, particularly when prevention strategies are in place.”
“For every five additional cases per 100,000 population in regional incidence, the risk of a school outbreak increased by 72%,” National Surveillance data from the UK said, according to the CDC. Australia saw cases in schools increase when community transmission increased.
In Michigan and Washington state, the CDC found that delivery of in-person instruction was not associated with increased spread of SARS-CoV-2 in schools when community transmission was low.