This is the Coronavirus Schools Briefing, a guide to the seismic changes in U.S. education that are taking place during the pandemic. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox.

The first coronavirus vaccines for adults are nearly here, but children’s vaccines will take a lot longer. Pfizer and Moderna’s pediatric trials are just getting started for children older than 12.

So INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL HYDERABAD what does that mean for the timeline to fully reopen schools?

For once, we have good news. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert, told Adam last month that it’s "an extra added benefit when we get the vaccine for the kids," but that it is not a prerequisite for reopening. That has been echoed by many teachers groups and medical experts.

"There’s very little concern or sense that school shouldn’t be open because the kids aren’t vaccinated," said Colin Sharkey, the executive director of the Association of American Educators.

Dr. Paul Offit, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and a member of the F.D.A.’s vaccine advisory panel, said, "It’s extremely rare for a child to die of this virus, so it’s the teachers that you need to vaccinate."

Teachers will be in an early group of people to receive vaccines, after health care workers and people living in long-term care facilities. Even before teachers are vaccinated, their unions say that elementary schools can be reopened safely, as long as districts follow testing, personal protective equipment, physical distancing and ventilation protocols. We’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: Young kids do not pose a high risk of infecting others.

"You can reopen elementary schools before you have the vaccine for teachers, but the vaccine will create an insurance that things are safe," said Randi Weingarten, the president of the American Federation of Teachers.

Importantly, it’s not just teachers that need protecting. Custodial staff members and lunch workers, receptionists and bus drivers are all part of the school community.

"The equity angle is really important," said Dr. Grace M. Lee, an associate chief medical officer for practice innovation at Stanford Children’s Health. "All of the folks that enable a school to open are going to be critical to that work force."

Similar questions about access and equity for children, though, are months down the line. The vaccine process and timeline for children will inevitably look very different, because researchers would start widespread testing only if they discovered no serious side effects.

"Vaccine developers are keenly aware that children are not simply miniature adults," our colleague Carl Zimmer explained earlier this fall. "Their biology is different in ways that may affect the way vaccines work."

For example, young children have more active immune systems than adults, and may have stronger reactions, including more fever, aches and fatigue.

Even once vaccines are available, conspiracy theories and mistrust could slow their adoption. Some governors have already said they will not mandate vaccines. Although mandates would aid herd immunity, doctors and teachers groups worried that it would just distract from the main issue: keeping kids learning.

"We’ll lose the war over whether to vaccinate if we start a conversation about whether it’s mandatory," Weingarten said. "We have to create trust first and foremost."

As the fall semester winds to a close, final assessments and midterm grades are due. And many, many children will have failed their classes.

"We’re obviously dealing with unprecedented learning loss and course failure," Brian T. Woods, a Texas superintendent, said, "and it’s going to take years to mitigate." In his district, the share of students failing at least one course in the first grading period increased to roughly 25 percent from 8 percent last year.

But in many cases, it is the schools have failed their students. Few children in the districts above have spent time learning in-person this semester. Many struggled to access classes online. The most vulnerable and disadvantaged students are suffering the most from continued remote learning.

In the spring, districts made major changes in student report cards — dropping letter grades, guaranteeing A’s or ensuring that performance during the pandemic would not count against students. But many have since returned to normal grading patterns.

A strong rebuke: Seven families sued the State of California on Monday over the quality of education that their children are receiving at home this year. In the lawsuit, they said that remote learning had exacerbated inequality in schools and deprived minority students from poor families of their right to an education.

A close look: The Washington Post reported on a school where around 90 percent of first graders were on target for reading levels in March. By the fall, every single kid had fallen behind.

Independent play is an important skill for kids, but winter might put a wrench in things. Here are a few ways to help foster an unguided romp, even when temperatures drop. Importantly, give them space to make a mess.