HARRISBURG — As Pennsylvania hits the milestone that more than 80% of adults have received a dose of the COVID vaccine, the state announced two new initiatives Monday for COVID vaccines and testing in schools.
Department of Health Acting Secretary Alison Beam said the state will offer a free, voluntary pooled classroom testing program in K-12 schools outside of Philadelphia county.
School districts must opt in to offer the testing, and parents will have to allow their children to be tested.
Under the program, children signed up for the testing program will take a shallow anterior nasal swab and a classroom’s samples will be checked under a single test. Pennsylvania will work with Boston-based Concentric by Ginkgo, which has similar contracts in other states, including Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.
“We heard nothing but positive feedback,” Beam said of the pooled testing program, adding they heard from other school districts that the testing was simple and painless. “Early detection like this is what we need to keep students in classrooms, and COVID out.”
Starting Monday, the state Department of Health is also directing vaccine providers to make every effort to coordinate COVID-19 vaccination clinics at K-12 schools, and colleges and universities.
}The clinics should be offered to employees, contractors, volunteers, students, and students’ families, and can be held at schools or a location agreed upon by the school and the provider.
If a provider can’t coordinate a vaccination clinic with a school, the provider is responsible for directing the school to the Department of Health to find a vaccine provider who can staff a vaccine clinic.
Beam said testing, vaccinations and masking will be the best bets to keep students in schools and extracurricular activities ongoing.
“The key is to get as many Pennsylvania vaccinated, so we can stop the spread of COVID-19 and the Delta variant,” Beam said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued recommendations for universal masking in K-12 schools, and Pennsylvania officials said they are “strongly encouraging” school districts and leadership to follow that guidance.
“At this stage, there is no discussion taking place as to whether or not there will be a statewide masking mandate,” Beam said.
Funding for the vaccine clinics and testing will comes from $338 million in CDC funds. Philadelphia County is excluded from both programs, since the city’s Department of Public Health receives its own federal funding for similar programs.
Dr. Karen Hogan, with Concentric by Ginkgo, said in-classroom testing is the easiest for pooled testing program. The kids pull down their masks, swab outside their nostrils and all the swabs are put in a single tube to be tested. Most programs are testing once a week, and results are reported with 24-48 hours.
“Everything is optional,” she said.
Hogan has two school-age sons, a 5th- and a 7th-grader. Her youngest is under the age of 12 and is not vaccinated, and she spoke on their limited time in their classrooms during the pandemic.
“On the one had we want our kids in the classroom, but we want them safe,” she said. “Nothing about this time is easy.”
