‘A mixed bag of emotions’
City teacher among first school staff to get COVID vaccine
NORWALK — There are only three moments during the coronavirus pandemic that felt strange to Mark Jackson: The first time he waited in line in personal protective gear to get groceries, his first time back in a school building to teach, and when he got the first
dose of his COVID-19 vaccine.
Jackson, a social studies teacher at Roton Middle School, was one of the first people from Norwalk Public Schools to get the coronavirus vaccine. Jackson got his first dose of the vaccine at Stamford Hospital on Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
While many felt a sense of relief upon getting vaccinated, Jackson said it felt more surreal to stand in a distanced line for the shot and then be handed a vaccine identification card verifying he received the first dose. Nerves only started to set in when he was asked to wait for 15 minutes after getting the shot to watch for any side effects, he said.
“That was the only part I felt emotions,” he said. “I didn’t know what to expect. Other than that it was OK. It was just a lot of questions. It’s the sense of the unknown.”
Jackson was initially hesitant to get the shot given its quick timeline for development, but his wife persuaded him to do so for the sake of their three kids.
“Being a history teacher, you got to wonder why they were able to find a vaccine in a global pandemic in a matter of 10 months when they still don’t have cures for the bubonic plague,” he said. “(But) I’m happy I got it. I did what I had to do and that’s that. I don’t feel any excitement or joy. It is what it is.”
Other than a sore arm, Jackson felt fine after getting the shot — but a few days later came confusion. Jackson and the rest of the schools got an email from the district Wednesday, two days after he got his first dose, telling them to cancel any upcoming vaccinations appointments per an order from Gov. Ned Lamont.
According to Lamont’s vaccine rollout plan, people over age 75 should be scheduled first to receive the COVID vaccine as part of Phase 1b. Frontline essential workers, who are also part of Phase 1b, should be able to schedule appointments to get the COVID vaccine starting in late February and early March.
However, some districts entered all of their employees into the VAMS system — the federal government’s online vaccine scheduling system — which allowed some teachers to schedule vaccine appointments early, according to the Connecticut Mirror.
On Jan. 19, the state Department of Public Health told all school districts, local health departments and vaccine providers that anyone with an appointment for Jan. 22 or later should cancel unless they were part of Phase 1A or over age 75, in order to keep with the planned prioritization.
“We have begun in earnest vaccinations of our 75 and older population,” Acting Public Health Commissioner Dr. Deidre Gifford said in a news release. “We have dozens of large vaccination clinics up and running throughout the state with more coming online soon. In order to vaccinate our 75plus residents as quickly as possible so that we can move on to the other groups within 1b, it is critical that we focus on getting shots in the arms of those elderly and most vulnerable residents.
Norwalk schools forwarded the governor’s message to staff on Jan. 20.
“Like other school districts, their names were added to the VAMS database in preparation for Phase 1b,” said Brenda Wilcox Williams, chief communications officer for the district. “They subsequently received emails to sign up for appointments. We have forwarded to all our staff the governor’s message asking that educators hold off for now on booking appointments, or to cancel any appointments that were made prematurely.”
Wilcox Williams said the district doesn’t know how many staff received the vaccine before the new guidance was sent out. However, Jackson said he knows of at least 20 teachers who went.
“All the teachers were excited,” he said. “I was talking to people all across the district. It didn’t matter what school you were at, everyone was excited. It was a lot of excitement but that excitement turns into resentment because some got it and the rest of us have to wait. It’s a mixed bag of emotions. We don’t want the teachers to look bad because it’s not our fault.”
Jackson said most teachers weren’t expecting to get an email prompting them to schedule their vaccines until February, so many were surprised when they got the notification earlier this month. Many took this as a sign they were approved to register and started to set up appointments.
“We didn’t know as teachers what was going on,” Jackson said. “We got the notification to expect something soon and look out for an email from VAMS. We didn’t even think we were jumping the line.”
Then the email came telling staff to cancel any future appointments, prompting a lot of confusion and questions as to why teachers were prompted to register in the first place.
Since Jackson received the first dose already, he’s still planning to get the second dose Feb. 8, as waiting would ruin the vaccine’s efficacy.
“You don’t know how to react,” Jackson said. “Some people were annoyed because they were excited to get the vaccine and now they have to wait. Others were like ‘oops.’ It’s a mixed feeling where you feel bad ... but we’re still on frontline. It can go either way.”
For some educators, the vaccine is what they need to feel safe in their classroom. But for Jackson, who was one of the first to return to in-person teaching when working in Norwalk’s summer school, it’s more about putting those around him at ease. He said he’s hopeful the more teachers get vaccinated, the more students will return to in-person learning.
Norwalk’s in-person learning numbers have dropped drastically, especially at the middle and high school levels where some classes only have one or two students learning in person. The result is more online learning, which Jackson thinks takes a toll on students and staff alike.
“If I sat there and worried about everything, I wouldn’t get anything done,” he said. “I go in and do what I have to do. I’d never be able to help kids to the best of my ability (otherwise). I just go in and do the best I can. I try to make things as fun and engaging as I can, whether I’m the only person in the room or have a class full of kids.”