‘No excuses’
Teachers union leaders, buoyed by Biden, push Baker to get on board
President Biden said there will be enough coronavirus vaccines for every American adult by the end of May and is challenging states to get at least one shot into the arms of all educators by the end of the month.
Now leaders of the Bay State’s largest teachers unions say Gov. Charlie Baker — who’s repeatedly declined to make educators eligible for the potentially life-saving vaccines despite pushing to get kids back into classrooms — just has to get on board.
“The governor has no excuses anymore,” Massachusetts Teachers Association President Merrie Najimy told the Herald. “It’s time for Charlie Baker to get with the program. Everybody else is on board. He can make it happen and he can make it happen starting tomorrow.”
The Baker administration did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Biden on Tuesday vowed “this country will have enough vaccine supply for every adult in America by the end of May” — moving up his timeline by two months — as he announced a landmark partnership between rivals Merck and Johnson & Johnson to produce the latter’s newly authorized one-shot vaccine.
He also challenged states to get every educator, school staff member and child care worker at least one dose by the end of March and said he would leverage the federal pharmacy program to get shots into their arms as he pushed to get the majority of K-8 schools open by the end of April.
“Let’s treat in-person learning like an essential service as it is, and that means getting essential workers who provide that service — educators, school staff, child care workers — get them vaccinated immediately,” Biden said.
More than 30 states have prioritized educators for the potentially life-saving vaccines. But in Massachusetts, Baker prioritized those over the age of 65 and those with two or more specific medical comorbidities at the start of Phase 2 and put teachers in the third eligibility group, which has yet to gain access.
Boston Teachers Union President Jessica Tang said Biden’s support is “a great relief to our thousands of educators who are already back in person and thousands more who returned in Boston on Monday,” adding, “We hope that this puts additional pressure on the state to get vaccinations out.”
American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts President Beth Kontos said “a really high number of educators” within her union want the vaccine, adding that the president’s call to action brings “a sigh of relief.”
The debate over teacher vaccinations has already reached a boiling point on Beacon Hill, where lawmakers launched their sharpest criticism yet of Baker’s decision to
‘Let’s treat in-person learning like an essential service as it is, and that means getting essential workers who provide that service — educators, school staff, child care workers — get them vaccinated immediately.’
PRESIDENT BIDEN
forge ahead with full-time in-person learning beginning in April. A group of 21 lawmakers, led by state Sen. Adam Hinds, D-Pittsfield, urged Baker to earmark Johnson & Johnson doses for teachers and school staff.
“Now that we have the ultimate authority saying this, this is what we expect the state to do,” Hinds said.
After Biden’s announcement, House Speaker Ronald Mariano urged Baker to “give teachers access to vaccines immediately.” Senate President Karen Spilka called to earmark doses for an “aggressive” vaccination program “this month.”