91% of local teachers are vaccinated, scheduled to receive shot or opted out
GREENWICH — In just the few days since educators became eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine, 91 percent of the staff of the Greenwich Public Schools is either scheduled to receive a shot, has already received the first dose or has opted out of the vaccination, officials said Wednesday.
A list of the remaining 9 percent of staffers was sent to Greenwich Hospital — a member of the Yale New Haven Health System network, which is helping the Greenwich Public Schools organize the vaccinations. This way, further assistance can be provided to anyone in that group who is interested but is not yet scheduled for an appointment.
Greenwich Hospital, meanwhile, is estimating that all school employees who want to be vaccinated will receive at least the first dose by the end of this month. Educators became eligible as of March 1, thanks to a new mostly age-based vaccination plan unveiled by Gov. Ned Lamont in late February.
“We prioritized Greenwich teachers for upcoming clinic days
by opening up exclusive, teacher-only appointments and allowed more than 48 hours for those slots to be filled,” said Dana Marnane, vice president of public relations at Greenwich Hospital. “Every patient who receives a first dose is guaranteed a second dose which is scheduled before they leave their first dose appointment.”
Educators in town are using a unique link through the Yale New Haven Health network’s online COVID-19 vaccination portal that allows in-school staff to schedule appointments, either in Greenwich, at the clinic at Brunswick School, or at other Yale New Haven locations around the state.
According to Superintendent of Schools Toni Jones, there will be some vaccination days dedicated to teachers and school staff. On other days, there will be designated vaccination stations set aside for school staff. Greenwich Schools worked with Yale New Haven to organize the vaccinations, but ultimately, Jones said, distributional and operational decisions were made by Yale New Haven, not the school district.
“We are currently running efficient and safe vaccination clinics that require extensive logistics,” Marnane said. “To continue to best serve our entire community, this was the optimal way proceed.”
In some school districts, such as Stamford, separate vaccination clinics have
been set up for teachers.
Greenwich Education Association President Carol Sutton has said that teachers in town are grateful to be eligible for the vaccinations. Sutton said she had heard of some difficulties with scheduling, especially in the early hours of eligibility, but said she was able to get an appointment March 13.
In Greenwich, students in kindergarten through eighth grade have in-school instruction every day. At Greenwich High, students are divided into two cohorts, with two days of in-person instruction and two days of remote learning each week. And GHS students will begin attending class in person this month on alternating Wednesdays.
Evie DeRosa, a 26-yearold building substitute at Greenwich High, said she also had some trouble at first navigating the appointment website and
finding availability. But she was able to secure an appointment on Thursday, though the Stamford resident will have to travel to Bridgeport for her vaccination shot.
It’s a minor inconvenience for DeRosa, who has been in-school teaching five days a week since the start of the school year. While she commended the district’s safety precautions, she said that receiving the vaccine will provide an extra layer of protection.
“You can’t control what kids do outside of school, so there’s always that risk that I could potentially get infected,” DeRosa said. “It is a great relief to make the appointment as soon as possible. There’s a lot less anxiety. I live with my boyfriend, so I was also concerned about what I could get at school and then pass on to him.”