Joseph Charter School math teacher Jim Hite uses a smart board in April 2020 for some one-on-one work with a student. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has said schools can safely reopen even if teachers are not vaccinated for the coronavirus.

WASHINGTON — The director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said schools can safely reopen even if teachers are not vaccinated for the coronavirus.

As some teachers’ unions balk at resuming in-person instruction before teachers are inoculated, Dr. Rochelle Walensky said, “Vaccination of teachers is not a prerequisite for safe reopening of schools.” Walensky cited CDC data showing social distancing and wearing a mask significantly reduce the spread of the virus in school settings.

White House COVID-19 coordinator Jeff Zients called on Congress to pass additional funding to ensure schools have the resources necessary to support reopening.

President Joe Biden has pledged to ensure nearly all K-8 schools will reopen for in-person instruction in the first 100 days of his administration.

Teachers are prioritized as “essential workers” under the CDC’s vaccination plans, though many have yet to receive doses as the nation continues to face a vaccine shortage.

In other COVID-19 updates, the federal government is opening two coronavirus vaccination sites in East Oakland and East Los Angeles in Calirfonia, two of the hardest-hit communities.

Zients announced the sites will launch at the Oakland Coliseum and at California State University, Los Angeles. The facilities will be staffed primarily by officials from the Department of Defense, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, the Department of Agriculture and the Department of Health and Human Services.

Zients called those sites “just the beginning” of the Biden administration’s push to speed the pace of vaccinations, particularly in area suffering the brunt of illnesses and death.

— Associated Press