Decision has first responders and others feeling left behind

For Pennsylvania educators and school support staff, Wednesday brought great news: They’re being fast-tracked for vaccination with the new, single-shot Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.

“What a glorious day! What a wonderful day!” said Mark Spengler, a special education teacher at

Emmaus High School, reacting to Gov. Tom Wolf ’s announcement.

It’s a major step in the state’s push to get children back into classrooms, which virtually everyone agrees is essential for their academic success, socialization and mental health. Most Lehigh Valley school districts offer hybrid or all in-person learning, with many switching to remote as COVID-19 outbreaks occur.

“There’s nothing like being fact to face with students,” Spengler said. “They’ve been disengaged, distracted, they miss their peers, they miss seeing their teachers, they miss being in the hallway between classes and seeing their friends … and we miss that.”

Easton Area Education Association President Kevin Deely said the announcement was “fantastic.”

“Teachers really want to be back in the classroom with all the students we can get in there,” he said. “We know it’s much better if we feel safe and our students are safe, and we don’t want to put anyone in harm’s way.”

But some — first responders, grocery store employees, corrections officers and others who come in close contact with the public every day — remain in the second tier of Pennsylvania’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout, phase 1B. So Wolf ’s decision to specially accommodate teachers was greeted with skepticism and even anger.

Lower priority?

The president and CEO of the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association, David N. Taylor, said Wolf should be ashamed of himself for directing vaccine to teachers before everyone 65 and older — whom Taylor called the most threatened group — gets their doses.

“This is an act of shameless political pandering,” Taylor said. “This just terribly irresponsible.”

Taylor said the only group that should get priority now are those most at risk of losing their lives. Teachers, he said, have “very selfishly put themselves in front of others who are more vulnerable.”

Pennsylvania State Troopers Association President David Kennedy criticized the Wolf Administration for not prioritizing the vaccination of troopers and other first responders.

“There are only 4,300 state troopers in Pennsylvania, but they are responsible for patrolling over 85% of our commonwealth,” he said in a statement. “Thus far, over 700 troopers have been infected with nearly 1,000 department employees, overall. An outbreak could cripple our department. Public safety should be a priority right now.”

Another industry group, the Pennsylvania State Corrections Officers Association, demanded the administration prioritize the vaccination of officers “who are working in super-spreader prisons across the commonwealth.”

“Some officers have been vaccinated, but there isn’t a consistent, system-wide effort,” association President John Eckenrode said.

“This could be done in only a few short days if officers were a priority. Instead, they are overworked, exhausted and are working massive amounts of overtime due to COVID-19 illnesses,” he said. “The mental anguish of passing the virus from prisons to their loved ones also takes a tremendous toll.”

Hundreds of people at the Lehigh County Jail, including staff and inmates, have tested positive for the virus since the start of the pandemic, and two people have died since New Year’s Eve.

The roughly 35,000 food manufacturing, supermarket, pharmacy and other workers represented by United Food & Commercial Workers Local 1776 deserve priority, as well, according to local President Wendell Young IV.

Wolf ’s announcement is great for teachers and schools and all of the families who depend on them, he said. Some UFCW members — like many in the state’s general population — have had to leave their jobs to be home to take care of children who are prohibited from attending school in person by COVID-19 restrictions.

“I’m not mad at the governor,” Young said. But some food sellers interact with thousands of people on the job, and 90% of the local members are considered “essential workers” under state guidance.

Most disturbing, he said, is the state decision to give smokers priority over food workers, for vaccine purposes.

“There’s something wrong with that,” Young said.

Eric White, a spokesman for the Berks County-based supermarket and convenience store chain Redner’s Markets, said the company had no position on what order vaccines should be given.

Nonetheless, White, said, “We are hopeful that our associates can be given just as much consideration to receive the vaccine as soon as possible so that we can continue to serve our communities with the essential need of food.”

Vulnerable students

The push to vaccinate teachers in particular was a bipartisan one. At a news conference announcing the move, Wolf said priority will go to teachers who work with populations considered to be especially vulnerable to the challenge of education during the pandemic — kindergarten pupils and those in the early primary grades, special education and English learning.

Bethlehem Area Superintendent Joseph Roy said the move to vaccinate teachers quickly will help districts across the region as they try to move back to full-time school, especially at the elementary level.

He said he tries to balance the scales of safety and meeting students’ educational and social emotional needs.

“Getting to the point where we can get all our elementary personnel vaccinated, that helps put a lot more weight on the safety side, which would make us feel more comfortable,” Roy said. “It’s the most positive news we’ve had since this whole thing started.”

Roy said the district will be getting 686 doses in the first round of vaccines. Another 350 or so staffers have already been vaccinated through the normal process, he said. He hopes the new doses will be enough to cover a priority grouping of people working in elementary schools and bus drivers.

Allentown Superintendent Thomas Parker said the vaccine gives an additional level of comfort as the district plans a return to school for the fourth quarter.

“I think this puts a lot of minds at ease, knowing they’ll have early access to the vaccine,” he said.

The Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last weekend authorized the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for emergency use. Pennsylvania will receive 94,600 doses this week .

The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and the departments of Education and Health are partnering with the 28 Intermediate Units to establish vaccine sites. The Pennsylvania National Guard and AMI Expeditionary Healthcare will administer the shots.

To date, about 2.5 million Pennsylvanians have received one or both doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, the first to reach the market. The Johnson & Johnson vaccine is expected to speed the process because it requires only a single dose and can be stored in ordinary refrigerators. The others need to be kept at extremely low temperatures.

“Making the vaccine available to school staff is a key step to getting more students back in the classroom, more parents back to work without worry, and our economy back on track,” Pennsylvania State Education Association President Rich Askey said in a statement.