The second-largest teachers union of the United States, on Sunday, changed its stance on mandating COVID-19 vaccines for teachers as the country records an increasing number of cases of coronavirus as the Delta variant spreads its wings.

Randi Weingarten, the President of the America Federation of Teachers said that vaccines should be mandated for members of the faculty in order to protect the children who attend in-person classes and are too young to be vaccinated.

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While speaking at NBC News’ ‘Meet the Press’, Weingarten said, “The circumstances have changed. Meet the Press” program. “It weighs really heavily on me that kids under 12 can’t get vaccinated”, according to reports from Reuters.

“I felt the need … to stand up and say this as a matter of personal conscience”, she added.

According to reports from Reuters, the Delta variant of COVID-19 has significantly increased the number of children being in need of medical attention and in some cases, being hospitalised.

According to statements released by the White House earlier this year, nearly 90% of the educators and school staff have been vaccinated against COVID-19. The statistics were largely echoed in statements made by Weingarten.

On Sunday, the US reported 100,000 cases for the fourth straight day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Currently, the country is averaging more than 99,000 daily cases, CDC data showed.

More than 615,000 Americans have died from COVID-19 and over 4.2 million people have died worldwide, data compiled by the Center for Systems Science and Engineering at Johns Hopkins University showed.

According to another data from CDC, just 58.4% of Americans ages 12 and up are fully vaccinated.