Local teachers line up for vaccinations at DCIU
Delaware county teachers and staff began to get shots of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine at a clinic held at Delaware County Intermediate Unit offices Thursday.
Officials expect to give out 5,200 vaccines to teachers over the next week.
“This is fantastic news for us,” said Wallingford Swarthmore Superintendent Lisa Palmer in a notice to parents. “Our initial allocation is sufficient to vaccinate all elementary educators and staff who wish to receive the vaccination.”
The vaccine clinic is being administered by the Pennsylvania National Guard and AMI Expeditionary Healthcare, LLC, a health organization contracted by PEMA for planning and staffing assistance at commonwealth-established vaccine sites.
Officials at the Delaware County Unit prohibited photography inside the testing site, in accordance with its contract with AMI.
The vaccine allocations were distributed by Pennsylvania from the federal government and distributed to intermediate units based on the proportion of Pre-K to 12 public and non-public school employees and contracted staff in their regions.
A second round of vaccinations is expected to be available for teachers at the end of the month.
Garnet Valley expects to have 311 first round doses administered to its staff, officials reported in a letter sent to families on Tuesday.
“The remainder of our employees, the majority of which are at the secondary level, will receive their vaccinations at some point later this month or in early April,” Dr. Marc Bertrando, superintendent, wrote. “Fortunately, in Garnet Valley, after the first rounds are complete, faculty and staff at the elementary level, K to 12 special education teachers and bus drivers will have been vaccinated as long as they voluntarily participated in the program.”
Among the first with appointments Thursday was Ridley Special education teacher Steve Hill.
“I’m very excited, it’s a good feeling,” said Hill as he waited to head in to get his shot. “Each week since Christmas break I’d say it’s been better as cases go (at school). We’re definitely turning the corner. We’re hoping to get all the kids back after spring break.”
“I’m excited. I’ve been waiting a long time,” Holly Ladigoski, an Interboro math para-professional, said as she waited for her vaccine. “We’ve been back to school since September; (K thru 6th grade) middle school is hybrid. It’s been safe but this can’t hurt.”
At least one person was not happy with the teacher vaccination rollout. Intermediate Unit employee Maria Geiger had found a vaccine online before the teachers’ clinic was announced. She drove 300 miles to New Kensington, Pa., then on the ride home learned the DCIU was offering them and she was eligible.
“I had to drive 5 ½ hours to get my shot,” said Geiger. “I have a health condition; my shot here is being taken by somebody else.”
Geiger said the people at the pharmacy in New Kensington were upset with her for taking their shot.
“I tried to explain I can’t get one in my neighborhood,” said Geiger. “It’s a horrible lottery game. Why isn’t it more organized?”
Geiger will have to drive back to New Kensington to get her second shot in a couple of weeks.
Teacher vaccinations, along with falling rates of COVID-19 in the county, have many local districts moving forward in their plans to return students to more in-person learning.
With seven-day active COVID-19 incidence rate falling below 100 per 100,000, Wallingford Swarthmore School District elementary students will return to full in-person learning beginning on Thursday, March 18, Palmer said at the Monday evening school board meeting. Their incidence rate in their district is down to 56.98 per
100,000 as of March 5, according to reports from the Chester County Department of Health.
In Marple Newtown, plans also call for a return to five-day, in-person learning next week; however, buses will remain at
50 percent capacity due to social distancing. Officials are encouraging parents to drive students to school if possible.
Springfield School District will begin bringing students back for in-person learning on March 15 with elementary students in grades K through 5 coming back first, and secondary students in grades 6 through 12 returning on March 18. However, the district will continue virtual classes on Wednesdays to maintain flexibility.
In Radnor, students will transition to full in-person learning March 15 with a full return by the following Monday.
With the return to full inperson instruction, many districts such as Haverford School district have eliminated their hybrid models, requiring students not wishing to return in person to switch to fully virtual classes.
William Penn School District was allotted 206 vaccinations for staff, said Dr. Eric Becoats, William Penn School District superintendent, at its education meeting Wednesday night. The state is directly communicating with staff and teachers using information entered into a district questionnaire. He said 187 staff were on a waiting list for vaccinations.
Beacoats said the district is making extensive use of antigen testing to allow students to be in the building one day a week. They are looking at recommendations to expand to twice-aweek for in-person learning and will return to the board in April with that proposal.
In Garnet Valley, Bertando thanked students and parents for their patience and flexibility during a difficult year. “This development truly signals that we will soon get back to relative normalcy,” he said.
County-wide vaccinations continue to move forward with a new fifth vaccination site opening Monday in Springfield, said Rosemary Halt, director of the COVID Task Force for Delaware County.
“The vaccination supply is starting to open up and we’ve been able to expand,” said Halt. “If we can run all five sites and we have enough vaccine, that’s about 10,000 a week we can do just on the county sites.”
Halt said they are receiving about 6,000 Moderna vaccinations a week and 2,340 Pfizer vaccinations a week.
The Pennsylvania Department of Health dashboard shows that, as of Thursday, 43,797 Delaware County residents have received both doses of vaccine, while an additional 43,646 first doses have been given.
They are updating the waiting list in the Phase 1A category which Halt estimated is still 150,000 long.
“It’s encouraging, but we still have a long way to go,” Halt said.
Thursday afternoon U.S. Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-5 of Swarthmore, announced more federal vaccines coming into Delaware county through federally qualified health centers including ChesPenn which targets marginalized communities.