The 2021-22 school year started in the middle of a spike in COVID-19 cases and deaths due to the Delta variant. While all adults and children 12 and older can be protected with a vaccine, younger students are more at risk. On top of that, rules regarding safety measures like masking indoors differ between states.
Most children nationwide went back to in-person school this year, with some states providing virtual learning options. It’s difficult to track how in-person schooling has affected unvaccinated children nationwide due to inconsistent or missing data from states.
