Teacher vaccinations going untracked in U.S.

The national rush to vaccinate teachers against COVID-19 in hopes of reopening shuttered schools is running into one basic problem: Almost no one knows how many are getting — or refusing — the shots.

States and many districts have not been keeping track of school employee vaccinations, even as the U.S. prioritizes teachers nationwide. Vaccines are not required for educators to return to school buildings, but the absence of data complicates efforts to address parents’ concerns about health risk levels and some teachers unions’ calls for widespread vaccinations as a condition of reopening schools.

The number of school staff members receiving vaccinations is unclear in several large districts where teachers were prioritized, including Las Vegas, Chicago and Louisville, Ky.

Some state agencies and districts have said privacy concerns prevent them from tracking or publishing teacher vaccination data. Others say vaccine administration sites are not tracking recipients’ occupations and that they can’t survey employees themselves.

Over a dozen states had yet to prioritize teachers for vaccines before President Joe Biden directed all state governments to administer at least one COVID-19 vaccination to every teacher, school employee and child care worker by the end of March. he has promised to have most K-8 schools open for classroom instruction by the end of his first 100 days in office near the end of April.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not include vaccinating teachers in its guidelines for schools to consider bringing students back. But vaccines have been a sticking point in reopening debates.