Biden adviser on schools reopening in the fall: ‘We can’t look in a crystal ball’

Senior presidential adviser Anita Dunn said on Sunday that the unpredictable nature of the coronavirus pandemic makes it impossible for the Biden administration to say for certain whether or not schools could be reopened this fall.

During an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union,” host Jake Tapper asked Dunn for clarification on the administration’s stance on school reopenings, noting that President Biden had said in an interview that schools should probably reopen by the fall.

Dunn responded by pointing to the 80 percent of teachers who had received a vaccine so far.

“If you recall, a couple of months ago, the president made the announcement that we were going to have a special supply of vaccine dedicated precisely for this reason. Now, he said probably. He didn’t say absolutely,” Dunn said.

“But, given the science, if the vaccination program in this country proceeds, if people do go get their vaccines — he does believe that schools should be able to reopen in September, and reopen safely, following the [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] guidelines,” Dunn added. “But he said probably. He  did not say absolutely, because we have all seen this since, unfortunately, January of 2020. It’s an unpredictable virus.

“We can’t look in a crystal ball and say what September looks like,” Dunn said.

Anita Dunn, a senior adviser to the President, says Biden believes that schools should probably reopen in the fall if people continue to get vaccinated, adding that it is not absolute because “it’s an unpredictable virus.” #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/rgTfIdP3j9

— State of the Union (@CNNSotu) May 2, 2021

Fellow administration adviser Anthony Fauci has stated multiple times that he believes schools should reopen and that he does not believe it is necessary for all teachers to be vaccinated before reopening schools.

However, when asked in February if he believed schools had the resources they needed to reopen, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, said he did not think so.

“I think that the schools really do need more resources and that’s the reason why the national relief act that we’re talking about getting passed — we need that. The schools need more resources,” Fauci said.