SLO County kids are missing school due to COVID exposure. Doctors say it’s preventable
The omicron surge has left more people sick with COVID-19 in San Luis Obispo County than ever before — including young children.
“We’re seeing a deluge of cases in that age group,” County Health Officer Dr. Penny Borenstein said in an interview Jan. 25.
The wave of new COVID-19 patients is particularly evident among children between the ages of 5 and 11 because of their low vaccination rates, Borenstein said: Less than one-quarter of eligible elementary-school-aged children in San Luis Obispo County are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to county health data.
Despite the low vaccination rate, most school-age children who contract COVID-19 are staying out of the hospital, Borenstein said.
But in the wake of the omicron surge, there is another place young children are not: The classroom.
The increase in the number of school-age children sick with COVID-19 or with exposure to the virus has led to hundreds of student absences in San Luis Obispo County.
“The most effective way to learn is in a classroom — we know this,” said Tom Harrington, director of student services at the Paso Robles Joint Unified School District. “Luckily our teachers have gotten very good at virtual learning. So while it’s not ideal, it’s what we have and we’re making it work.”
Although plenty of absences account for students who test positive for the virus — at least an additional 2,800 students, or nearly 9% of the students in the county, have tested positive since Jan. 11 — far more students are out of classrooms to quarantine.
Many schools in the county follow guidance from the California Department of Public Health released in July 2021, where students are required to quarantine after a close contact with someone who tests positive for COVID-19 only if they are not vaccinated against the virus.
Only those who are fully vaccinated, or were previously infected with COVID-19 within 90 days of exposure, do not need to quarantine after a close contact, according to the July state guidance.
However, as schools in California have become such hotbeds for COVID-19 exposure, the state has recently allowed them to conduct less strict quarantine measures.
Under guidance released on Jan. 12, unvaccinated students exposed to a COVID-positive person while in school are not required to quarantine, but must monitor for symptoms and should be tested for the virus within three to five days after exposure.
Low vaccination rates leave more school-age children in quarantine
The lack of vaccination and high rate of infection among young children in the county leaves many schools with hundreds of vacant desks and students learning in front of screens.
On Jan. 27, 115 students were out sick due to positive COVID-19 tests in Harrington’s district in northern San Luis Obispo County, according to data sent to The Tribune from district nurse Ashley Aiello.
Another 497 were stuck learning at home due to quarantine that same day — 65% of which were elementary school students, according to the data.
At Cappy Culver and Lillian Larsen elementary schools — both in rural North County — most of the students at home Jan. 27 were quarantining, and not sick from the virus.
About 1.5% of Cappy Culver Elementary School’s 200 students the same day were absent due to positive COVID-19 tests, while another 4.5% were home quarantining, according to San Miguel Joint Union School District Superintendent Karen Grandoli.
Twelve percent of Lillian Larsen Elementary School’s nearly 400 students were absent on Jan. 27 — 5.5% of which had received positive COVID-19 tests and 6.5% of which were home quarantining, Grandoli said.
Meanwhile teachers are working hard to adjust to the influx of students out of the classroom due to coronavirus and quarantining, school district officials said.
“Most kids aren’t sick enough where they can’t do school, so they’re able to make the transition from in-person to virtual learning pretty seamlessly,” said Hillery Dixon, Lucia Mar Unified School District’s director of curriculum and instruction. “It’s a lot of work for our teachers; it’s not easy. But I’m proud of our staff and our families for making it work.”
SLO County medical professionals say vaccines are best way to keep kids healthy
While there are some breakthrough COVID-19 infections, the majority of COVID-19 patients that come through pediatrician Dr. Rene Bravo’s San Luis Obispo office are unvaccinated.
“It really is overwhelming the systems,” Bravo said. “I’ve seen more children with coronavirus in the last four weeks than I’ve seen in the last year.”
Bravo said children sick with the omicron strain of COVID-19 tend to have less severe illness than those sick with delta last year, but he noted that scientists still don’t understand the long-term effects of coronavirus infection.
“That’s why I tell folks don’t get the coronavirus if you don’t have to,” Bravo said. “I have more concerns about the long-term effects of COVID than any sort of very obscure, very rare possibility of any long-term vaccine effects.”
The Pfizer-BioNtech coronavirus vaccine was approved by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for use in children ages 5 to 11 years in October 2021.
Meanwhile, local health officials continue to say the best way to keep San Luis Obispo County children healthy is for eligible children to be vaccinated and boosted for COVID-19.
Borenstein said she recommends anyone with questions about the safety and efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine talk to their pediatrician — a recommendation Bravo echoes.
“I always tell folks that are hesitant about vaccines, ‘Remember people giving you information are not accountable to you,’ ” Bravo said. “I am accountable for the veracity of the information I give you. For any consequences that occur, it is my responsibility to do my best job for you.”
Bravo added that the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia offer scientifically accurate information about the COVID-19 vaccine for children. More information from both those sources can be found at aap.org and chop.edu.
