CDC loosens recommendations for summer camps

The CDC updated its guidance for summer camps to say that children do not always need to wear a mask.

According to the updated guidance, in camps where everyone is vaccinated, “it is safe to return to full capacity, without masking, and without physical distancing ... except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations.”

“Although people who are fully vaccinated do not need to wear masks, camp programs should be supportive of campers or staff who choose to wear a mask,” the CDC said.

The guidance was different last month, when the CDC said that camps should require all campers and staff to wear masks even if all camp employees were vaccinated. At the time, no COVID-19 vaccine was available to children under age 16 years.

Children as young as age 12 years are now able to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, and another option could be on the way after Moderna said this week that it plans to submit data on its vaccine to the FDA for use in children aged 12 to 15 years in “early June.”

The CDC said fully vaccinated people at camp do not need to undergo routine COVID-19 testing, even if they come into contact with someone who has been exposed to COVID-19.

Camps where campers or staff are not fully vaccinated should continue to use multiple prevention strategies to protect people who are not vaccinated, the CDC said. This includes all camps with children aged younger than 12 years.

“Camps can help increase vaccine uptake among campers, their families, and staff by providing information about COVID-19 vaccination, promoting vaccination, and establishing supportive policies and practices that make it as easy and convenient as possible for staff and others to get vaccinated,” the CDC said.

Promoting vaccines can be done by visiting vaccines.gov, which will show the closest vaccine site, as well as available times to receive a vaccine.

Additionally, the CDC is offering COVID-19 vaccination toolkits to help educate campers and their families. The CDC also recommended developing educational messaging for vaccination campaigns among camp sites.

The CDC also provided a list of safer activities campers can take part in, whether they are vaccinated or not.

References:

CDC. Guidance for operating youth and summer camps. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/schools-childcare/summer-camps.html. Accessed May 28, 2021.

CDC. Choosing safer activities. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/participate-in-activities.html. Accessed May 28, 2021.