With Boston’s vaccine mandate for indoor venues just weeks away, the city continues to see a surge in cases caused by the omicron variant of COVID-19. Mayor Michelle Wu joined Jim Braude on Greater Boston to discuss how she plans to combat this spike, teacher shortages across the city and the angry pushback she’s been getting from some protesters.
“We are doing everything we can to keep schools open,” Wu said. “We know how essential schools can be for every part of a family’s life and for our larger economy.”
Wu said keeping Boston schools open amid the surge is “quite the balancing act.” If a school must close because of staff shortages, she said it would count as a snow day and would be made up at the end of the year.
Asked by Braude if Boston is ready to go back to remote learning, Wu said, “As a district we would have a significant amount of work to do… between the devices, the family engagement, there’s a lot of work in changing over.”
Wu has spoken about receiving xenophobic and racist pushback when she announced new COVID-19 restrictions, including the vaccine requirement for public indoor venues like gyms and restaurants.
“This is an unfortunate part of the job these days. But I know what we are doing is in the best interest for the public health and wellbeing for all of our communities,” she said.
“I am more than willing to absorb this if it means that we are lightening the load on our business owners who otherwise would have to face this backlash directly,” she continued. “Or, our students and families in schools who would otherwise be struggling.”
WATCH: Boston Mayor Michelle Wu on school staffing shortages and controversial COVID protocols amid surge
