SALEM — Students who are wishing to participate in “high-respiration” extracurricular activities will need to be vaccinated by December after the School Committee voted to expand the COVID-19 vaccine order this week.
The Salem School Committee voted, 6-0, to expand what has been a vaccination-or-mask policy for sports, band, chorus, drama, and other similar extracurricular activities. The new order allows for limited exemptions for religious and medical reasons but will drop the outdoor mask option.
The vaccine order will become effective on Dec. 1 for all students ages 12 or older, and will be expanded to include children as young as 5 years old once the vaccine is authorized for that age level.
“There is concern that this policy would exclude some students who have been very clear that they will not get vaccinated,” said Superintendent of Schools Dr. Stephen Zrike, “There are a series of students who, even with the extra push, may choose not to get vaccinated and will not be able to then participate.”
This order will only apply to Salem athletes; visiting athletes and students will not be required to comply with the order. Zrike said the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association has not indicated that it plans to put in place any coronavirus rules or measures for the winter season.
School Committee member Kristin Pangallo also wants to start having conversations about requiring COVID-19 vaccination for school attendance. Mayor Kimberley Driscoll, who chairs the School Committee, is looking to expand the order as well.
Chief of Opportunity for the Salem Public Schools Chelsea Banks said that 66 percent of Salem residents, ages 12 to 15, are vaccinated, compared to 73 percent across the state. There’s a bigger discrepancy for residents, ages 16 to 19; only 47 percent of that age group is vaccinated, compared to 72 percent statewide.
“My expectation is, for our next meeting, we’ll have some further dialogue if there is any way to broaden that (order),” Driscoll said. “We’ve got vaccine hesitancy. We’ve got vaccine ambivalence, particularly among our teens. We need to really tackle that in a way that meets families where they are, but then also recognize that we can’t live with these numbers.”
