An Open Call to Restore Normalcy for U.S. Children

In much of the United States, adults have the option of returning to life essentially as we knew it in 2019. However, children continue to experience disproportionate restrictions, and the costs are mounting. 

Youth depression, suspected suicide attempts, drug overdose deaths, and obesity have all risen dramatically during the pandemic. The unintended consequences of pandemic restrictions are now a greater risk to our children than COVID, and we must act on that reality. 

Meanwhile, children’s already-low risk from COVID has become even lower.  The Omicron variant is causing milder disease, and vaccines are available to children aged five and up. Vaccines may provide additional protection against severe disease, particularly in at-risk cohorts who are immune-naive.

Based on a careful review of all of this evidence, we believe it is time to allow children the same return to normalcy that adults have enjoyed. Children’s schools, athletics, and activities should be restored to their 2019 norms. Masks should become optional in US schools (we suggest, by February 15), and we can also return to pre-pandemic norms for quarantines: if you are sick, stay home. 

We can and should protect medically-vulnerable children and adults using focused protection strategies that protect individuals with risk, as we did in the years before COVID, rather than prolonging harmful restrictions on all children.

In order to make these shifts, we must reassure families about the low risk to children from COVID infections in the Omicron era, and also from long COVID. We must also share the best available evidence on the benefits and harms of COVID mitigation measures affecting children, which can reassure families, educators, policymakers, and all who care for children’s well-being about the safety and healthfulness of a return to normalcy for kids.

The Toolkit accompanying this statement, developed by a group of scientists and pediatric, infectious disease, emergency, and ICU doctors, includes detailed information and references supporting our recommendations. We continue to update the toolkit in response to peer feedback and to incorporate the most current research. Our toolkit reflects our most accurate and complete understanding of children, COVID and the urgency of normal. We encourage parents, school leaders, and community leaders to explore and share these resources. 

While this information needs to reach many Americans, we see signs that families are ready for this shift. Recent polls show that 65% of parents are more concerned about their child missing out on education than getting COVID at school – suggesting that Americans are evolving their perspectives about COVID, just as the impacts of COVID have evolved in the era of vaccines and Omicron.

Children – and their parents – have shouldered an outsize burden long enough. Restoring normal childhood is a moral imperative, based on the balance of today’s evidence.

Below, you will find 1292 medical and health professionals who join this call to return normalcy to our kids.

We invite members of the health community to co-sign this statement. Click here to co-sign.

We invite members of the health community to co-sign this statement. Click here to co-sign.