As health officials get ready to start vaccinating against the monkeypox virus, we are still in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Nearly a dozen more Valley schools will head back to class Monday, including Brownsville Independent School District.

The district says they plan to keep following federal recommendations and use what they have learned in the last 2 years.

“I feel confident that coming in that we are going to have a spike of covid cases, but it won’t be that bad,” BISD Director of Health Services Alonso Guerrero said. “I’ve been keeping an eye on the county cases and they’ve been steady, they’ve been going down a little.”

BISD is offering vaccines and testing for both students and staff.