The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
TEACHERS LINE UP FOR VACCINES
Five school sites give out first doses to Lorain County educators, support staff
Lorain County educators and school support staff turned out en masse for their first doses of vaccine to guard against the novel coronavirus pandemic.
Five school sites became points of distribution for Lorain County Public Health, volunteers and school nurses to give the shots to up to 6,000 or more teachers, administrators and operational workers Feb. 26. An exact tally would be ready on March 1, said county Health Commissioner Dave Covell.
From 8:10 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., about 500 people had gone through Elyria High School for the first dose of the two-shot Moderna vaccine, said Mark Adams, Lorain County Public Health deputy commissioner.
It may be a new speed record for the county health department staff, Adams said.
The Pioneers’ gym had a crowd — mostly people sitting on the bleachers for the 15-minute waiting period to see if any strong
“The goal has always been to try to improve every single clinic. We’re running a 1,100-person clinic today and we have zero line.” — Mark Adams, Public Health deputy commissioner
reactions develop after the vaccine.
Lorain County Public Health began using Armorvax software that lets people make an appointment down to the minute.
That process minimizes wait times, and at Elyria High, many attendees had walk-up service.
“The goal has always been to try to improve every single clinic,” Adams said. “We’re running a 1,100-person clinic today and we have zero line.”
Planning ahead
The work will help Lorain County’s teachers, and eventually families, because children can return to their lessons in class.
But, there is another goal: to prepare for times when Lorain County Public Health can give out 10,000 or 20,000 shots a week, Adams said.
The process reduces the amount of ancillary staff needed to run a clinic, he said.
When local residents go to the public health clinics, sometimes they offer suggestions to improve them.
The county health staff are listening, Adams said.
“We’re going to make it as convenient as possible,” he said.
At the needle’s point
Among those getting shots was Shirley Payne, a retired Elyria City Schools second-grade teacher who began working as a reading specialist in March last year.
Payne started just days before Ohio schools shut down to slow the spread of COVID-19.
Now, with hybrid learning, she said the students are good at keeping their masks on and the custodial staff are wiping down surfaces all day long.
“I believe in the science, I know that they’re not just feeding me a line,” Payne said. “Like they say, if it’s available to you, get it and I believe in that.
“Since it is available to me, I don’t want to miss the opportunity. I would rather take my chances having it than to take my chances not having it.”
When schools shut down, Barb Coward was laid off from her job in food service for Elyria Schools’ Kindergarten Village program.
The children are fun, Coward said, adding she missed them during the time off due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
“Everybody keeps telling me I’m old, so I need to get the shot,” she said with a laugh.
Tiffani Wall, a longterm substitute secretary at Elyria’s McKinley Elementary School, said she worked for the district three days before the COVID-19 shutdown.
Wall has returned to work as Elyria Schools has hybrid learning with students at school in shifts, split over four days a week.
“They go through many trials, trying to protect the community,” she said about the vaccine. “I’m going to do what I can to keep up on my part, to not only protect myself, but others.”
‘We’re excited’
Lorain County Public Health supplied doses of vaccine and Elyria Schools supplied 1,000 of its trademark pink cookies for those attending.
Outside the gym, Elyria Schools Superintendent Ann Schloss greeted people with district Communications and Marketing Director Amy Higgins.
Aramark food service was preparing lunch for the clinic staff.
Schloss praised the county health department for “fabulous” work to coordinate the event.
“I will tell you that with the online signing in and check-in and everything, it’s fabulous,” she said. “Teachers are excited, bus drivers, everyone, cafeteria workers, they’re all here and excited.
“It’s just one more step forward back to the kids full time, so to speak. But, we’re excited, very excited.”
Lorain High lineup
Between noon and 1:30 p.m., some lines formed with people waiting for their inoculations at Lorain High School.
Wait times vary based on signups, but the Lorain High clinic had instances when people went from the front door to COVID-19 shots within seven minutes, said Kat Bray, Lorain County Public Health education specialist and public information officer at the Lorain site.
“We’ve heard a lot of positive feedback; people are surprised at how smoothly it’s gone,” Bray said.
Lorain High had its workers, along with faculty and staff from Clearview Local Schools and a half-dozen other private and charter schools in the city, said Franco Gallo, superintendent of the Lorain County Educational Service Center.
Other superintendents were reporting the other clinics were going really well, Gallo said, adding he had no reason to doubt it.
The local educators are relieved, he said, citing examples of applause and people walking out with their arms raised to celebrate.
“Some of the people feel it’s the first step toward getting to some normalcy,” Gallo said.
Penny Torres, cafeteria manager for Lorain Schools’ Stevan Dohanos Elementary, said she missed the students and her colleagues when they were laid off during the school shutdown.
Now that Lorain Schools have returned to blended remote and in-person learning, there is limited interaction, but that is better than none, Torres said.
“I would rather get some protection, than no protection, and I don’t want to get a bad version of the COVID,” she said about her vaccine. “That’s my goal, is not to get a bad version of the COVID, if I get it.”
Spectrum School, based in downtown Lorain, also had staff report to Lorain High for the shots.
“I didn’t feel it at all,” said Kari Kincannon, an aide at Spectrum School.
The school largely has had in-person learning for this school year and students have been compliant with rules about masks and social distancing, Kincannon said.
She said she got her shot for her family, friends and to see her grandmother, who is in a nursing home.
“And to keep my students safe,” Kincannon said. “They’re very important to me.”
“Teachers are excited, bus drivers, everyone, cafeteria workers, they’re all here and excited.” — Elyria Schools Superintendent Ann Schoss