WORCESTER, Mass. - President and CEO of Umass Memorial Health Care Dr. Eric Dickson says it could be safe for students to return to the classroom, but there's plenty of risk involved. 

"I think when we looked at the summer and the viral loads were very low I said and continue to say it was safe to try. I think they tried and did a good job and fortunately many kids got back to class and that's what we needed. I think it is safe to try again, although this time it is much riskier than what we saw in the fall,” said Dr. Dickson.

When it comes to college students returning, he says many schools have a good testing program in place, where they’ve been able to catch the cases and isolate students quickly.

"As long as we continue to have those robust testing capabilities at the colleges I think it is safe and I'll have kids going back to college as well. If we let down our guard and stop with the testing even with the small number of people getting vaccinated we could have a real problem,” said Dr. Dickson.

Dr. Dickson wants to remind everyone even if you receive a vaccine, it protects you from getting the disease but it is not clear if it prevents you from spreading it. He urges everyone to continue to follow the COVID-19 safety protocols in place.