Open AccessIn-person schooling and associated COVID-19 risk in the United States over spring semester 2021
Author(s) -
Kirsten E. Wiens,
Claire P. Smith,
Elena Badillo-Goicoechea,
Kyra H. Grantz,
Mary Kathryn Grabowski,
Andrew S. Azman,
Elizabeth A. Stuart,
Justin Lessler
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
science advances
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.928
H-Index - 146
ISSN - 2375-2548
DOI - 10.1126/sciadv.abm9128
Subject(s) - covid-19 , pandemic , work (physics) , demography , psychology , demographic economics , medicine , environmental health , sociology , economics , virology , outbreak , disease , mechanical engineering , pathology , infectious disease (medical specialty) , engineering
Because of the importance of schools to childhood development, the relationship between in-person schooling and COVID-19 risk has been one of the most important questions of this pandemic. Previous work in the United States during winter 2020–2021 showed that in-person schooling carried some risk for household members and that mitigation measures reduced this risk. Schooling and the COVID-19 landscape changed radically over spring semester 2021. Here, we use data from a massive online survey to characterize changes in in-person schooling behavior and associated risks over that period. We find increases in in-person schooling and reductions in mitigations over time. In-person schooling is associated with increased reporting of COVID-19 outcomes even among vaccinated individuals (although the absolute risk among the vaccinated is greatly reduced). Vaccinated teachers working outside the home were less likely to report COVID-19–related outcomes than unvaccinated teachers working exclusively from home. Adequate mitigation measures appear to eliminate the excess risk associated with in-person schooling.