We're doing COVID-19 wrong. We should mandate vaccines for teachers, not masks for kids.

The need for clear uncompromised scientific messages on COVID-19 has never been more important than right now, with the highly contagious delta variant predominating in every state and filling hospitals in the South and the Midwest.

And yet, the mixed messaging continues.

This is especially disturbing when it comes to schools, where the damage of over a year of remote learning is clear. Anxiety, developmental and learning delay, problems with socialization and even nutritional problems have all resulted from a prolonged physical absence from school, especially in poorer neighborhoods. It's important to get our schools to open and stay open, even in the midst of the delta variant surge, which has tragically shown a big uptick in cases, including among children.

Masks without vaccines aren't effective

Unfortunately, too much of the public health response has been about masks and not enough about vaccines. Less than a third of youth ages 12 to 17 have been vaccinated, which is far too few. And disturbingly, not all teachers or staff have been vaccinated.

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It was particularly disappointing to hear American Federation of Teachers President Randi Weingarten calling for mask mandates in schools while stopping short of demanding mandatory vaccination of teachers, though she told The New York Times last week she is "looking at vaccine mandates" among other alternatives in light of the delta variant. Full vaccine approval is expected soon from the Food and Drug Administration.

The fact is, it is vaccines that have been shown to decrease the spread of COVID-19 while dramatically decreasing severity of illness.

I believe strongly that all teachers and all teens should be vaccinated, and that this could play an role in slowing the delta outbreak.

Don’t get me wrong, I believe that masks have an important value, too. A North Carolina study led by Dr. Daniel Benjamin at Duke, which he told me has been confirmed by studies in Wisconsin and other states, showed less than 1% secondary transmission in schools with the help of mitigating strategies that include masking, at least 3 feet of distancing and open windows or other ventilation strategies.

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But we need to keep in mind that masking is far from an alternative to vaccination, and that there is no direct evidence yet the degree to which porous cloth masks or even surgical masks slow the spread of the delta variant. There is a lot of evidence to back that N95 and even some FDA-approved KN95 masks present an effective barrier, but it is not certain that these masks can be effectively utilized in young children.

A study just published in Clinical Infectious Diseases shows that the SARS-CoV-2 virus is much more aerosolized than previously thought, emphasizing the need for universal precautions but also underlining their limitations at controlling spread.

Keep the focus on vaccines

So while I would certainly recommend universal mask use in schools and try to ensure that it actually happens, especially among those children too young to be vaccinated, handing out higher quality masks and instructing young children the proper way to use them, at the same time I think the far more important strategy is to keep the focus on vaccine compliance.

It is concerning to me that Weingarten has said that we will try to open the schools while pushing mask mandates for children but not mandatory vaccines for teachers. I think these priorities are backward. Vaccinating everyone who is eligible, by whatever method needed including mandating it, is essential. Should young children be compelled to wear masks – in part – to try to protect themselves and others from teachers and older students who remain unvaccinated?

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The political bickering over how schools should be kept safe should be replaced by a firm commitment to keep schools open and then determine the best way keep them safe. Closing schools for any reason for another year would cause physical and emotional harm for students that could be irreparable. Remote learning is a poor substitute for the in-person experience.

It is time for the FDA to push forward with a full approval of the Pfizer and then the Moderna vaccines. Vaccine mandates in businesses with a high degree of risk of catching COVID-19 should immediately follow. All health care workers and teachers should be vaccinated. Public health must be separated from politics. Mandate vaccines while strongly recommending the best possible masks, not the other way around.

Dr. Marc Siegel, a member of USA TODAY's Board of Contributors and a Fox News medical correspondent, is a professor of medicine and medical director of Doctor Radio at NYU Langone Health. His latest book, "COVID: the Politics of Fear and the Power of Science," was published last fall. Follow him on Twitter: @DrMarcSiegel

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: COVID-era back to school: Mandate teacher vaccines, not masks for kids