WITHIN ARM’S REACH
COVID vaccine shots for school workers to begin next week
In a move aimed at getting more kids back into classrooms, Gov. Tom Wolf announced Wednesday that teachers and other school employees are now eligible to get COVID-19 vaccines.
The state is setting aside its allotment of the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine that received emergency approval from the Food and Drug Administration over the weekend for people working in schools. They will begin getting the shots as early as March 10.
The governor unveiled details of the state’s school employee vaccination plan at a press conference Wednesday morning.
“Vaccinating teachers and staff is an important step to getting students back into the classroom safely,” Wolf said.
Wolf said the state will be getting 94,600 Johnson & Johnson doses in the first wave of its distribution, and pharmacies in the state will get another 30,000. More will arrive in the weeks to come, he added.
All those doses will be earmarked for school employees, both at public and private schools.
In the first round of vaccinations, priority will be given to teachers and staff members who work with students in prekindergarten classes or elementary schools and those who work with special needs students or students who speak English as a second language.
The state is working with retail pharmacies to make sure early childhood education workers and child care workers have access to
the vaccine, Wolf said.
Wolf said the state is also working with the state’s 28 regional intermediate units, including the Montgomery County Intermediate Unit.
A press release that was issued during his media briefing said that each intermediate unit will have at least one vaccination location. The Pennsylvania National Guard and AMI Expeditionary Healthcare will administer the vaccine at those sites.
The sites are expected to open March 10 to 13.
Wolf said the intermediate units were chosen to head up the vaccination effort because of their unique relationships with the schools they serve. They are centrally located, have knowledge about things like school building schedules and have long-established connections with school districts.
“They’re in the best position to understand the needs of teachers,” Wolf said.
Wolf said there are about 200,000 school workers in the state, although it is unclear how many of those will get vaccinated as part of the new plan.
“That’s a lot of people who are going to be in line as quickly as we can roll this out,” Wolf said.
How long it will take to get them all vaccinated isn’t quite clear, Wolf said. Some may have already received a vaccine and some might refuse it, he said, which would impact the timeline.
But, he said, based on the amount of Johnson & Johnson vaccine being delivered to Pennsylvania it is possible every school worker who wants one could receive a shot by the end of the month. That’s a goal President Joe Biden set for the entire nation during a press conference Tuesday.
Wolf said he hopes all school workers take advantage of the access to vaccines, but he said the state and school leaders can’t force them to get the shot.
“I’m not sure anybody in the commonwealth has that power,” he said.
Wolf said the plan to vaccinate school employees was developed by his office and the COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force.
It is separate from the existing, ongoing vaccine distribution plan, the governor said, and will not impact people already eligible to get vaccinated from doing so.
“The rest of the rollout will not be affected,” he said.
In fact, Wolf said, with increased production of vaccines from Moderna and Pfizer, availability in the state should increase in the days to come.
The state is in phase 1A of its vaccination program. Eligible individuals include health care workers, people living in congregate care homes, anyone over the age of 65 and people ages 16 to 64 with certain medical conditions.
“Everyone who is already in 1A will remain eligible,” Wolf said.
Educators rejoice
The governor’s announcement was met with excitement from Pennsylvania educators.
Christopher Dormer, superintendent of Norristown Area School District, said this vaccination plan is critical to getting students back in the classroom.
“We thank Governor Wolf and the bipartisan legislative task force for dedicating the newly available Johnson & Johnson vaccine supplies to get all educational staff vaccinated in an expedited manner. Today’s announcement is exactly what I and my fellow Montgomery County superintendents have been advocating for and requesting. Adding staff vaccinations to declining community spread and outstanding mitigation plans, we have full confidence that we can provide in-person learning opportunities for students while continuing to prioritize our commitment to health and safety. I am sure that our entire staff will have greater peace of mind as we begin our transition to in-person learning here in the Norristown Area School District.”
“This is an incredibly important step toward returning Pennsylvania’s schools and communities to in-person instruction and ensuring that students, school staff members, their families and their communities are better protected from COVID-19,” Rich Askey, president of the Pennsylvania State Education Association, said in a statement released following Wolf’s briefing. “This is good for everyone, and we thank Gov. Wolf and lawmakers for their leadership and their commitment to getting this done.”
The PSEA is the state’s largest teachers union, representing about 178,000 active and retired educators and school employees.
Askey said the plan to vaccinate school workers is a giant step toward getting Pennsylvania schools and the state’s economy a little closer to normal.
“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,” he said. “PSEA has been advocating for this kind of approach for the past six weeks, and we are very pleased that state leaders have listened and have taken swift action to put this plan in motion.
“Prioritizing the vaccine for educators, support staff and administrators is absolutely essential to providing the best possible education to our students and keeping our communities healthy.”
“Adding staff vaccinations to declining community spread and outstanding mitigation plans, we have full confidence that we can provide in-person learning opportunities for students while continuing to prioritize our commitment to health and safety.” — Christopher Dormer, NASD superintendent