R.I. eyes changes in rollout of vaccine

Rhode Island Lt. Gov. Daniel McKee, who is set to take over as governor if Gina Raimondo is confirmed as President Joe Biden’s commerce secretary, says he’d like to see changes to the state’s coronavirus vaccine distribution plan.

The Democrat said Saturday he wants to speed up vaccinations for all Rhode Islanders aged 65 and older as well as for teachers and school support staff.

Under current guidelines, adults younger than 75 who are not in a nursing home or in another high-risk group have to wait at least until the second phase of the vaccine rollout to get inoculated starting next month.

Vaccinating educators will speed up the economic recovery, he said.

“We’re not going to open the economy until we do that, and teachers are not going to feel comfortable by and large until we get them vaccinated,” he said.

McKee said he also plans on enhancing the state’s COVID-19 Advisory Committee, including adding Dr. Ashish Jha, dean of the Brown University School of Public Health and a national expert on the pandemic.

Maine

School districts across Maine are cutting back on in-person classes in response to staffing shortages in a number of critical areas as a result of a statewide surge in COVID-19 cases that began more than two months ago.

The shortages are affecting not just teachers, but transportation and custodial staff, The Portland Press Herald reported Sunday.

The Maine Department of Education doesn’t track the number of open positions in schools but is responding to feedback from school districts about staff shortages.

More than 600 reciprocal and one-year emergency certifications have been issued to date under an executive order from Gov. Janet Mills to provide more flexibility for certifying education professionals. Nearly 2,800 educators have been certified without taking a standardized test that is normally part of the process but was also waived by the executive order.

The department is working with Eastern Maine Community College in Bangor to provide free “learning facilitator” training to students who can serve as substitutes or paraprofessionals in schools after a one-week boot camp.

Buxton-based School Administrative District 6 moved to remote learning recently due to shortages of bus drivers and mechanics who were in quarantine after potential exposure.