While it is not unheard of for COVID-19 to put a child into the hospital, it is thankfully rare, per the AAP: “Among states reporting, children ranged from 1.6 percent to 4.2 percent of their total cumulated hospitalizations, and 0.1 percent to 2 percent of all their child COVID-19 cases resulted in hospitalization.” It is exceptionally rare for a COVID-19 infection to result in a child’s death: “Among states reporting, children were 0.00%-0.25% of all COVID-19 deaths, and 7 states reported zero child deaths. In states reporting, zero percent to 0.03 percent of all child COVID-19 cases resulted in death.”

In light of the children’s COVID vaccine arriving soon, and the exceptionally small risk that COVID-19 represents for children, it is time for public schools to think long and hard about their current masking policies. If a school district is going to require students who are vaccinated to wear masks — surrounded by teachers and other adults who are currently required to be vaccinated — it is fair to ask: What is the point. What is the danger in groups of vaccinated individuals getting together? What threshold needs to be reached for school administrators to conclude it is safe for groups of vaccinated individuals to take off their masks around each other? A few weekends ago, I went to MetLife Stadium with 70,231 other people, very few of whom wore masks, for several hours. It wasn’t a super-spreader event. Life went on. Why is it safe for people to go to sporting events and not wear masks but kindergarteners still need to be masked all day long?

Back in August Joseph G. Allen and Helen Jenkins wrote a good op-ed in the New York Times observing that, “Any organization setting a mask mandate at this point in the pandemic in the United States must pair that mandate with an offramp plan. Sleepwalking into indefinite masking is not in anyone’s interests and can increase distrust after an already very difficult year.”