The news about masks continuing in schools has really irritated me. I know it's no surprise, but their justification - that it's to give more time for 12-15 yo to be vaccinated - is so sly. So simultaneously the SG is saying "there is no pressure for younger teens to be vaccinated... the benefit is marginal to them, though may mean they don't get ill so don't need to miss so much school in isolation, but ultimately its up to individual families what to do" . But also, "unless more of you come forward to be jagged, you're all going to have to stay in at break time carry on wearing masks, because the 50% of you who have taken up our voluntary offer isn't enough". Yup, cos that's definitely not coercion at all...
Surely it would make more sense to ramp up the booster programme for the over 50s (was going to be rolled out more widely from the middle of this month, but now the middle of Nov apparently) if they are concerned about waning antibodies in the more vulnerable groups leading to increased cases, and as a result hospitalisations and deaths. Rather than further pushing the (exact same) vaccine to children who really don't need it and presumably aren't super-keen to have it, or they would already have come forward.
Yes I get that children HAVE to be in school, and the nature of that will mean they and their teachers are more likely to be exposed to the virus than an average member of the public who has more choice as to where they go, what they do and who they meet. But that's not really changed by the vaccine, given covid is unlikely to make children very ill in the first place (whether or not they are vaccinated), and teachers could be prioritised for boosters if that is a concern. And given the marginal benefit of your average teenager wearing your average mask in your average classroom (but not outside the school gates in many circumstances) I really don't think masks are worth the continued disruption to education to make whatever political point the SG is trying to make.