CNN’s John Berman is pressing for an answer from Vice President Kamala Harris’s chief spokesperson Symone Sanders on reopening schools.
“It’s not a trick question. I feel like you guys have treated it like a trick question,” Berman said during Wednesday’s CNN interview with Sanders. “I think people just want to know what the White House position is on whether teachers need to be vaccinated in order for kids to return safely to school.”
He noted that U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky explained earlier this month that it is not necessary for teachers to be vaccinated in order to reopen schools amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Sanders responded by noting that the Biden administration believes teachers should be “prioritized for receiving the vaccination, along with other frontline workers.”
Berman quickly shot back, “Prioritize is one thing… Is it necessary though? That’s the question. It really is a yes or no question.”
The White House aide suggested the question put forth is “is it safe for kids to go back to school,” before Berman stepped in. “In this case, that’s not the question,” he said.
“It’s a very specific question in this case,” Berman continued, adding, “I’m not sure why it’s a hard question to answer.”
Sanders responded, “I think the president has been clear, the vice president has been clear and I was clear just now that it is the administration’s position… that teachers should be prioritized for vaccinations.”
Watch the exchange below:
CNN's @JohnBerman presses VP Harris Chief Spokesperson Symone Sanders on teacher vaccinations:
— The Recount (@therecount) February 17, 2021
“It’s not a trick question. I feel like you guys have treated it like a trick question … Is it safe for teachers to go back to school?”
Sanders: pic.twitter.com/5JT8Md9ucA
Dr. Anthony Fauci, the chief medical adviser to President Joe Biden, said during a CBS interview on Wednesday that it is a “non-workable situation” if “you are going to say that every single teacher needs to be vaccinated before you get back to school.”
“I think teachers should absolutely be priority among those who who we consider essential personnel,” he added.
CDC Director Walensky told reporters during a briefing on Feb. 3, “There is increasing data to suggest that schools can safely reopen and that safe reopening does not suggest that teachers need to be vaccinated in order to reopen safely. Vaccination of teachers is not a prerequisite for the safe reopening of schools.”
Biden shared during a CNN town hall on Tuesday night that there was “a mistake in the communication” on his administration’s plan for reopening schools, as IJR reported.
On reopening K-8 schools five days per week for in-person learning, Biden said, “I think we’ll be close to that at the end of the first 100 days.”
The president also said during the town hall that teachers should be moved up “in the hierarchy,” regarding vaccinations.
Following mixed messages on schools reopening from the White House, Harris shared a similar message to Biden during a “Today” interview Wednesday, “Our goal is that as many K-8 schools as possible will reopen within the first 100 days. Our goal is that it will be five days a week.”
