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Back-to-school fair draws last-minute vaccine candidates

LYNN, Mass. — On one half of the field at Lynn Vocational Technical Institute Monday, it was the picture of end-of-summer normalcy as the school’s football team practiced.

On the other half, a reminder the pandemic is still a major part of life in Massachusetts, some 18 months after the first cases were detected.

The American Federation of Teachers, the union representing educators in Lynn, set up a back-to-school vaccination fair at the field in partnership with the city and a local hospital -- hoping to increase, even if only incrementally, the number of students immunized against Covid-19 this fall.

“We’re optimistic,” said Lynn Superintendent Patrick Tutwiler. “With each passing week, there are more and more young people getting vaccinated. We have pretty good rates among our staff.”

Mayor Thomas McGee said about 59 percent of residents are, in fact, fully vaccinated; about 66 percent have at least one dose.

And things look even better if you discount those unable to get vaccinated.

“About 20,000 in our community are 0-12 years of age,” McGee said. “So if you recognize that they’re not eligible for vaccines yet, the numbers go up to 69 percent fully vaccinated and 76 percent of those eligible having first doses.”

McGee said the city is seeing small vaccination victories by getting the shots to where people are -- such as over the weekend, when 25 residents were immunized at a clinic.

“I think there’s been a reluctance,” McGee said, “That is starting to soften because of the Delta variant.”

Fear of the Delta variant drove 15-year-old Adrian Figueroa to get his first Pfizer shot at the fair. The 10th grader added that all his friends were vaccinated.

Camila Getella turned 12 this summer. She was a little nervous about getting the shot, but she said she is looking forward to getting rid of her mask to socialize with family and friends -- and to sitting in a classroom again.

While in-classroom learning is happening this year, because of the Delta variant, Lynn Public Schools adopted a mask mandate for the school year -- even before the state issued one last week.

“Whether it’s camps or summer programs, kids have worn masks,” Tutwiler said. “They’ve done well, they’ve connected with one another. We’re confident they’ll be able to sustain.”

American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten, who visited the Lynn fair as part of a national tour of member districts, was heartened to hear the state didn’t leave things up to individual communities in Massachusetts.

“Given what’s happened with the Delta variant, it’s virulence and its transmissibility. And given that kids under 12 can’t get the vaccine, a mask mandate is in order for right now,” Weingarten said. masks. “I don’t want to wear mine either. I’m an asthmatic. Every time I wear one I have labored breathing. But what’s most important is to get kids back to school and to do it safely and that’s why we have to have, for now, these mask mandates.”

Weingarten said much worse is what’s happening in states such as Florida and Texas, where governors have attempted to block school districts from imposing mask mandates -- with resultant COVID outbreaks among kids.

“In places where they put politics first, you see something different,” she said. “Governor Abbott in Texas, Governor DeSantis in Florida? They’re running for President. And they want who they think is Trump’s base. So they’ve actually put their states in real harm’s way.”