Dr. Yvonne Maldonado told Newsweek how parents can keep their kids safe indoors, outdoors, during summer camps and at schools when they reopen in the fall.
Maldonado, who has been involved in several of Stanford's COVID-19 studies, said families should be practicing social distancing and masking when indoors.
She said parents who want to send their kids to summer camp should check on COVID procedures ahead of time to ensure that camp organizers are being careful by implementing measures such as verifying vaccinations of family members, ensuring that campers haven't been exposed to infected individuals or asking for antigen tests before camp begins.
Maldonado, who chairs AAP's Committee on Infectious Diseases, said the guidance was made in anticipation of the rapidly increasing surge of the Delta variant. "I know there were some people who were worried about that not aligning with what the [Centers for Disease and Control Prevention] said, but we really felt that it was in the best interest of teachers and students and families," she added.is expected to announce in the coming days that it will reverse its previous guidance and recommend that vaccinated people wear masks in public settings. Last month, the CDC had stated that vaccinated people did not need to wear masks indoors anymore.