really importantmasks are not generally needed outdoors the agency said except in limited circumstances such as in crowded settings in areas where local transmission rates are highwhat about social distancingthe agency recommended that students remain at least three feet apart from one another in the classroom consistent with earlier guidance some studies have suggested that three feet of distance is enough to keep students safe when other precautions are in placebut the agency made it clear than schools that do not have the space to keep students so far apart should reopen anyway in those cases the guidelines said it is particularly important to adopt other precautions including masking frequent virus testing and improved ventilationthe guidelines also recommend that students remain at least six feet apart from teachers and staff and that unvaccinated teachers and staff remain six feet apart from one another a cdc official said this recommendation was based on the fact that the studies that suggested three feet of distance could be safe had assessed the amount of space only between students and not between them and adultsbut some experts said that they found the varied distancing suggestions hard to follow and that schools would need clearer guidelines im really confused dr nuzzo said and i can imagine that school districts that frankly need everything spelled out for them clearly and not in a way thats subject to interpretation are going to be really confusedwill vaccines be mandatedthere is currently no major effort to mandate vaccines in k12 schools though that could change over timeright now only children 12 and up are eligible for the vaccine leaving a huge segment of the younger student population unprotectedand the shots including the pfizerbiontech vaccine which is the only one available for 12 to 15yearolds were approved under emergency use authorization until vaccines are given full approval by the food and drug administration the timing of which is unclear experts believe its unlikely that vaccines will be required for school attendancea vaccine mandate is always a political battle said dorit reiss a law professor at the university of california hastings college of the law in san francisco who said that states were unlikely to push forward with mandates until a vaccine had been authorized for students of all ages and potentially until there was full approval i just dont see legislators wanting to go through this twicebut the united states has a long history of requiring students to be vaccinated for certain diseases from polio to measles and experts believe covid19 is likely to join the list at some pointin the meantime its possible that schools could ask about the status of older students who are eligible for the vaccine chicago public schools for example has said it plans to ask families to submit covid19 vaccine informationi think you can certainly say we need to know if you are vaccinated said eric a feldman a professor of medical ethics and health policy at the university of pennsylvania carey law school