Teachers can get vaccine at two pharmacy chains
Florida K-12 teachers and school staff can book a COVID-19 vaccine appointment at Navarro Discount Pharmacies and CVS y mas stores in Miami-Dade.
Florida teachers and school staff can now book a COVID-19 vaccine appointment at all Navarro Discount Pharmacies and CVS y mas stores in Miami-Dade. But there seems to be some confusion about who is eligible.
Under Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ executive order, only K-12 school personnel ages 50 and older are eligible for a vaccine. Daycare and preschool workers are not.
But Miami-Dade County Public School teachers on Wednesday took to social media with good news: They discovered that CVS would book vaccination appointments for K-12 teachers, daycare and preschool workers and staff members, regardless of age or medical condition. And CVS’ booking system allows both the first and second vaccination appointments to be scheduled at once.
Later on, teachers received an email from the school district announcing a limited number of vaccination appointments for school employees Saturday and Sunday through Jackson Health System, Miami-Dade County’s public-hospital network. The district’s teachers and school staff
who are 50 and over, inclusive of anyone in contact with students, are eligible by appointment only at the following Dade sites:
North Dade Health Center, 16555 NW 25th Ave.
Christine E. Lynn
●
Rehabilitation Center, 1611 NW 12th Ave.
Jackson South Medical
● Center, 9333 SW 152nd St.
School employees 50 to 64 years old must have an ID or a pay stub showing they are school-site personnel at a K-12 school, or sworn law enforcement or firefighter. Employees of that same age who do not work at a school site must have a note from their doctor on letterhead or a prescription pad that includes their name, the doctor’s signature, the high-risk condition they are being treated for and a doctor’s recommendation to get a vaccine.
At Tuesday’s opening of a walk-up vaccination site in Overtown, MiamiDade Schools Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said the school district has vaccinated 1,000 school employees ages 65 and older through its partnership with Jackson Health System.
“We will continue to advocate since all teachers regardless of age are frontline, indispensable, essential employees,” Carvalho said, calling it “Our [School] Board’s top priority.”
A Miami-Dade school district spokesperson said school employees with an appointment can take up to two hours of their work day to get vaccinated without having to use sick leave. Consistent with district policy, an employee must receive approval from their principal or supervisor ahead of time.
BROWARD, PALM BEACH SCHOOL EMPLOYEES CAN GET APPOINTMENT IN MIAMI
School employees who live in Broward, the Keys or Palm Beach County can also book a slot because while there is a state residency requirement, there is no county requirement.
Teachers and school staff under 50 who found themselves able to book a slot with CVS did so through CVS.com. The portal will ask for your age and to identify which priority group you are in. One of those options is “Teachers K-12, Daycare and preschool workers, and staff members,” and does not give an age restriction.
The form requires writing in the name of your employer before you can schedule your first and second dose. By 4 p.m., some educators posted screenshots on social media with a message that “due to high demand” the area searched is fully booked or does not have any COVID-19 vaccine supply yet. They will have to check back Thursday.
CVS Health, which owns Navarro, CVS y mas and traditional CVS stores, issued a statement Wednesday on the change in policy despite Florida’s vaccine criteria:
“We’ve aligned with updated Federal Retail Pharmacy Program guidelines by making appointments available to pre-K through 12 educators and staff and childcare workers in all 17 states where we currently offer COVID-19 vaccines.”
Gov. DeSantis’ office, Florida’s Department of Education and the Florida Division of Emergency Management, which is tasked with the state’s vaccine distribution, did
not immediately respond to requests for comments.
BIDEN PRIORITIZING TEACHERS FOR VACCINES
The appointment availability for teachers through Navarro and CVS came a day after President Joe Biden called for states to vaccinate all
K-12 teachers, staff and childcare workers and have them receive at least one shot by the end of March.
Biden said pharmacies participating in the federal government’s pharmacy
program would begin prioritizing and scheduling appointments for educators starting next week, according to The Washington Post. One of the participating pharmacies is CVS Health.
Miami Commissioner Jeffrey Watson, who has pushed to improve vaccination rates in Miami’s Black communities, has been in the hospital for nearly a week after contracting COVID-19.
“I’m fighting,” Watson told the Miami Herald in a phone interview Wednesday evening from his room at Jackson Memorial Hospital. “I’m old and rusty, but this won’t take me down.”
Watson, Miami’s only Black elected official, said he fell ill before a Feb. 25 commission meeting, forcing him to participate via video call. After logging off in the early evening, he said he fell asleep for more than 12 hours. When he woke up Friday with difficulty breathing, he called Fire Chief Joseph Zahralban, who rushed over and recommended he go to Jackson.
Watson, 63, has urged Black seniors to get vaccinated while arranging pop-up vaccination sites in senior living facilities in his district, which includes Overtown, Liberty City, Little Haiti, Wynwood and the Upper Eastside. Watson said he had not yet been vaccinated because he was not eligible under Florida guidelines.
State data shows vaccination rates among Miami-Dade County’s Black population is lagging. The county’s population is 17% Black, but as of Tuesday, only 7.6% of residents who have received either one or both vaccine doses are Black.
Watson is the second Miami elected official to contract the novel coronavirus. Mayor Francis Suarez tested positive almost one year ago.
On Wednesday, Watson said he felt even more strongly about encouraging residents to get vaccinated. Alone in his hospital room, he said what he’s experiencing is “not your grandma’s pneumonia.”
“This ain’t something where you can run with it and be a big man about it,” Watson said, coughing afterward. “If it can catch you right, it’ll throw you down on the floor. It’ll put you in the hospital.”
The commissioner said he was feeling better than he did over the weekend.
“I’ve been in touch with him daily,” said Commissioner Ken Russell. “He sounds strong and tells me he’s feeling better.”
Commissioner Manolo Reyes said Watson’s presence at multiple vaccination events put him at risk as he encouraged residents to get inoculated.
He was out there in the field forgetting about himself and trying to get people vaccinated,” Reyes said.