Psaki Says Biden Admin Doesn’t Think Vaccinating Teachers Is a Requirement for Reopening Schools

Amid growing questions about the Biden administration’s approach to school reopenings, White House press secretary Jen Psaki was asked during Wednesday’s briefing to clarify what President Joe Biden’s position is on whether teaches need to be vaccinated first.

Hours earlier, Savannah Guthrie repeatedly pressed Vice President Kamala Harris on whether she can say it’s safe for teachers to return to the classroom before getting vaccinated. Harris said a number of times teachers should be prioritized as Guthrie questioned her very specifically on the matter.

At the briefing later, Psaki was asked very directly whether Biden believes “teachers need to be vaccinated before they go back to school.”

“Neither the president nor the vice president believe that it is a requirement,” Psaki responded. “The CDC guidelines included a range of mitigation steps including vaccinations as recommendations, but the mitigation steps also included steps like social distancing, the need for smaller class sizes, the need for sanitation. So this is one of several steps recommended in the CDC guidelines.”

She added that Biden and Harris believe teachers should be prioritized for vaccines.

You can watch above, via MSNBC.