The 2 vaccines currently in use in the United States are Pfizer and Moderna. The Pfizer vaccine is approved for use in people 16 years of age and older. The Moderna vaccine is approved for use in those 18 years of age and older. Studies are underway by both Pfizer and Moderna in children ages 12-17. They next stage of clinical trials for children ages 5-11 will begin after the results from the adolescent trials are completed.
To answer the question, at this time there is no vaccine approved for use in younger children. This is due simply to the fact that clinical trials have not been completed and they can only recommend the vaccine to the population demographics that have already been studied in the clinical trials. On a more personal note, when the vaccine is available for the younger age groups, I will recommend that my 2 younger daughters receive the vaccine.

Early in the pandemic, less was known about the virus and how it was transmitted. Since that time it has been determined that spread of the virus from inanimate objects in the community is less of a risk than previously thought. The primary route of transmission is via respiratory droplets. The CDC states that for the general public, wearing gloves is not necessary in most situations, like running errands. They do recommend wearing gloves when you are cleaning or caring for someone who is sick.
It is my opinion that some people I’ve witnessed wearing gloves are not using them responsibly. For example, they touch everything in their environment then touch their face or their cell phone with the gloves still on. It is better to just not wear the gloves (except when caring for someone who is ill with COVID) and instead use hand sanitizer if in an environment where you may been in contact with contaminated surfaces. Hand sanitizer has proven to be VERY effective.

The CDC still recommends quarantine for the entire 14 days. Local Public Health authorities make the final decision about how long to quarantine based on local conditions and needs. They may choose to consider the new options offered by the CDC to reduce the length of quarantine time. These new options include:
Stopping quarantine after day 10 (without testing).
Stopping quarantine after day 7 after receiving a negative test result (the test must occur after day 5 or later).

The chance of exposure due to fomites (inanimate objects) in the environment is very low. Encourage your technician to carry a small container of hand sanitizer with them and use it after touching commonly touched surfaces in the customer environment – if they feel that place of business is not following recommended protocols. Most importantly, coach your technician to ensure they maintain a minimum 6 foot distance from any personnel in that customer environment. Most people nowadays are not offended if you do not shake hands during introductions and they will not judge if you choose to stand at a greater distance while conversing. In addition, your technician can wear an N95 mask in a situation such as what you described above. This will afford him/her slightly more protection vs. a simple cloth face covering if they do encounter someone who does not respect the 6 foot distance. Hope that helps!

No. While under an Emergency Use Authorization the COVID-19 vaccine cannot be mandated for anyone. After the vaccine gains full approval from the FDA, it still will not be necessary to mandate that all employees get the vaccine. After enough of the population is vaccinated, the amount of virus circulating in the United States should be at a level similar to seasonal influenza and thus not a significant risk of spread in the work center. It would recommend letting the individual choose if they would like to receive the vaccine.

This is a complicated question and depends on the circumstances surrounding the potential exposure.
You do not have to “shut down” per se, but should thoroughly inquire with each employee if they were potentially exposed to the person who was ill. Anyone who meets the case definition of a “close contact” should definitely not come into the work center until they have completed the required quarantine timeframe. The definition of a close contact is as follows:
Close Contact- any employee who was within 6 feet of the ill person (starting from 2 days before symptom onset) for a total of 15 minutes throughout the course of the day, and regardless of whether they were wearing masks or not. (Encourage employees to be honest with their answers. Try not to appear judgmental or disappointed)  
Environmental contamination is less of a concern. If the ill employee frequented a certain part of the business, wipe down commonly touched surfaces with an approved disinfectant (such as Clorox wipes), but extensive cleaning is not necessary. Nor is shutting down the business for any period of time. COVID19 is spread predominantly through respiratory droplet secretions so maintaining the 6’ minimum distance is the best protective measure.

They can return to work when they meet the CDC criteria for “return to work” guidelines. They can return to the work place if it has been at least 10 days since symptom onset and they have been fever-free for at least 24 hours (without the use of fever reducing medications). Even if they have some residual symptoms such as slight cough, fatigue, etc. as long as it has been 10 days since they first became ill, then the CDC states they are no longer infectious and cannot spread the virus to others in the work center.