Vaccination protects our educators
Statement supporting science-based protections for public schools in Madison, Wisconsin
Our Madison Metro School Board will vote on a proposal to end the COVID vaccine requirement for its staff at the April 24, 2023 Board of Education Meeting on Monday night.
Below is my individual statement, as well as a Substack link to our UW Workers’ COVID Response Working Group statement.
I am a physician-scientist and community member in Madison. I would like to oppose item 8.1 on the agenda, which is the proposal to end the COVID vaccine requirement for staff.
In the ongoing COVID pandemic, educators and school staff are exposed to COVID risks on a daily basis. Vaccination is an important scientifically supported measure to reduce the harm of COVID infection, both short term and long term. We know that COVID infection can cause serious disease, even in people who were previously healthy. As an important example, COVID infection can cause myocarditis and an increased risk of heart attacks in previously healthy young adults (https://www.today.com/health/covid-heart-attack-young-people-rcna69903), and COVID vaccination reduces the risk of the most serious and potentially life-altering consequences of infection. In addition, vaccination reduces the likelihood of developing symptoms with a COVID infection.
It is clear that COVID vaccination is needed to protect our educational workforce. I hope that you will keep the vaccination requirement and make convenient access to updated boosters available to all school staff. I strongly encourage all eligible people, including adults and children, get up-to-date on COVID vaccinations, including the bivalent mRNA boosters.