Poll: Majority supports Biden’s virus response

The national rush to vaccinate teachers against COVID-19 in hopes of reopening shuttered schools is running into one basic problem: Almost no one knows how many are getting — or refusing— the shots.

States and many districts have not been keeping track of school employee vaccinations, even as the U.S. prioritizes teachers nationwide. Vaccines are not required for educators to return to school buildings, but the absence of data complicates efforts to address parents’ concerns about health risk levels and some teachers unions’ calls for widespread vaccinations as a condition ofreopening schools.

The number of school staffmembers receiving vaccinations is unclear in several large districts where teacherswere prioritized, including Las Vegas, Chicago andLouisville, Ky.

Some state agencies and districts have said privacy concernsprevent them from tracking or publishing teacher vaccination data. Others say vaccine administration sites are not tracking recipients’ occupations and that they can’t survey employeesthemselves.

Over a dozen states had yet to prioritize teachers for vaccines before President Joe Biden directed all state governments to administer at least one COVID-19 vaccination to every teacher, school employee and child care worker by the end of March. he has promised to have most K-8 schools open for classroom instruction by theend of his first 100 days in officenear the end of April.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not include vaccinating teachers in its guidelines for schools to consider bringing students back. But vaccines have been a sticking point in reopeningdebates.