Educators now eligible to register for COVID-19 vaccinationsDate: 3/9/2021 WESTERN MASS. – For the first time, Massachusetts educators and school employees will have the opportunity to receive the cornonavirus vaccine.
Gov. Charlie Baker announced at a press conference on March 3 that teachers, early educators and school staff members can begin registering for vaccination appointments as of March 11, a move the governor said was in concert with President Joe Biden’s March 2 directive to prioritize providing at least one shot for educators, school staff and child care workers by the end of the month.
According to the Baker Administration, educators may book appointments at all 170 sites currently open to eligible residents in Massachusetts by visiting www.mass.gov/covidvaccinemap. Additionally, the state’s COVID-19 Response Command Center will work to designate specific days at the seven mass vaccination sites for educators to receive their shots.
Separately, Matt Blanchette, manager of retail communications for CVS Pharmacy, confirmed to Reminder Publishing that the company was “aligning with updated Federal Retail Pharmacy Program guidelines” by making appointments available to educators, effective March 3.
Leaders of several area teachers unions said they appreciated the opportunity to receive vaccines, but there was still much work to be done.
“The Easthampton Education Association is thrilled that K-12 educators will be able to access vaccines at all sites starting March 11,” Easthampton Education Association President Nellie Taylor said. “Thousands of educators statewide have been working in person throughout the pandemic and this is long overdue.”
Hampshire Regional Education Association (HREA) President Billy Broaddus said while eligibility was appreciated, increasing access to teachers must be a priority as well.
“HREA is gratified that the governor is aligning with the Biden administration in prioritizing educator health and safety to allow us to provide the best instruction for our students,” he said. “We strongly encourage the highest levels of accessibility by making multiple sites available to minimize the need to take time off from teaching to get vaccinated.”
While the Westfield Education Association (WEA) President Lori Lyncosky said she is glad to have the opportunity to register for a coronavirus vaccine but it should have come earlier.
"The WEA is grateful that the state has added teachers to the list of people who now have access to the vaccination,” she said. “We wish the governor had considered our wellbeing and safety well before now and certainly not in conjunction with the commissioner of education’s decision to open schools large scale on April 1.”
The decision referenced by Lyncosky was announced a week prior when Baker and Department of Elementary and Secondary Education Commissioner Jeffrey Riley unveiled plans to eliminate remote learning and direct districts toward full-time in-person learning for grades K-5 by April. On March 5, the Massachusetts Board of Education voted 8-3 to grant Riley the authority to determine whether a district’s remote and hybrid learning should count toward required learning time mandates. The vote essentially allows Riley to push schools into in-person models, though districts can apply for waivers under specific circumstances that would allow for an incremental approach. Michael Moriarty of Holyoke, the only Western Massachusetts representative on the board, voted in favor of granting Riley’s request for such authority.
Massachusetts Senate President Karen Spika also pressed the governor for vaccines for education professionals in response to Baker and Riley’s announcement.
Damian Konkoly, president of the Hampden-Wilbraham Education Association, used the term “excited” when describing his reaction to vaccination eligibility, but he also noted, “Eligibility for vaccination is a great step, but eligibility is not yet delivery. As hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts citizens know first-hand, getting a vaccination appointment can be nearly impossible.”
While eligible, many teachers may not be vaccinated before the deadline set by Riley. In a letter to local boards of health, Department of Public Health Assistant Commissioner Jana Ferguson said it could be some time until all of the state’s approximately 300,000 educators, staff members and child care workers are vaccinated.
“Due to a severely constrained federal supply and the existing population that is currently eligible for vaccines, it is estimated that it will take a month for all eligible individuals to secure a first appointment,” Ferguson wrote. “This timeframe is only subject to change if federal supply increases dramatically, including the recently authorized Johnson & Johnson vaccine.”
Some leaders of local collective bargaining groups have expressed "anxiety" regarding the prospect of returning to schools with full classrooms without being fully vaccinated and access is a problem for their memberships.
“I think there’s a lot of excitement, but the stress level is also high given that this was supposed to be sooner. A lot of the stress comes from the fact that it’s not localized,” East Longmeadow Education Association President Eliel Gonzalez said, noting local health departments were initially slated to administer vaccine clinics. “The lack of ability to get them through the Health Department is stressful.”
Gonzalez said he knew of some staff who had been successful in securing an appointment, but overall, he intimated the goal of having teachers vaccinated by the end of the month was “admirable” but not necessarily achievable.
Kathy Russotto, president of the Longmeadow Education Association, concurred that the uncertainty related to securing those appointments added another stressor to a workforce facing rapid changes to its work environment.
Russotto stressed that educators in her union wanted a return to the classroom, but that return had to be safe. She explained Longmeadow Public Schools have successfully reintroduced K-5 students to the classroom four days a week at the CDC’s recommended 6-foot distance “strategically and methodically” and, as of this writing, there had been no cases of in-school coronavirus transmission. However, she voiced concerns with Riley’s proposal which instructs districts to allow 3 feet of distance between students’ desks as opposed to 6 feet.
“We’ve approached this in a methodical way with an emphasis on safety that we believe allowed staff, students, and hopefully their families feel safe,” she said. “What is being proposed presents a lot of anxiety for us, especially knowing that not all teachers will be vaccinated or have experienced the full efficacy of the vaccine, which takes about two weeks [after the final dose is received].”
Gonzalez said for his teachers, who are currently engaged in a hybrid learning model, the prospect of adding more students to the classroom while some educators remain unvaccinated is “a tough sell, unfortunately.”
Baker warned during his press conference that even with the recent approval of Johnson & Johnson’s one-shot vaccine, the third vaccine to be federally accepted, the commonwealth’s inventory of available supply would remain relatively “steady” and repeated his previous message that while the state has the capacity to administer more shots, it is at the mercy of the federal government when it comes to inventory. He indicated the initial 58,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine were fewer than anticipated and had already been received and distributed, primarily to hospitals and health care systems.
The governor stressed heavily during his press conference his concern for those over 65 years of age and those with multiple comorbidities as those were the populations most at risk of dying from coronavirus complications. "If supply numbers don't change, yeah,” Baker said when asked if adding educators to the list would set back efforts to vaccinate those individuals.
To that end, Taylor and Konkoly said they hoped to see the governor and Secretary for Health and Human Services (HHS) Marylou Sudders approve the proposed Last Mile Vaccine Delivery Plan that Taylor said would “vaccinate educators in our home districts en masse” while the state simultaneously serves at-risk populations.
Konkoly explained, “We need to bring the vaccine to people rather than having a disorganized competition for sign-ups,” he said.
The Last Mile Vaccine Delivery Plan is in the hands of the state’s Department of Public Health for consideration, Taylor said. Developed through a partnership with Mascon Medical, the Professional Fire Fighters of Massachusetts, the Massachusetts Teachers Association (MTA) and the American Federation of Teachers Massachusetts, it was modeled after a program developed to expedite first responders during Phase 1 of the state’s vaccination rollout. The coalition sent a letter to Sudders on Feb. 10 asking for support for a pilot program that would rapidly vaccinate educators in 10 to 20 high-needs districts at the same time the state continues to vaccinate other eligible individuals. The letter also pointed to the state’s plan to vaccinate transit workers as an example of employee groups and members of the public receiving vaccinations simultaneously.
She explained, “We also know that Massachusetts is behind many other states who have already begun vaccinating educators. This is why MTA and its affiliate unions are demanding that the governor work with the coalition of unions who have proposed the Last Mile Vaccination Delivery Plan to release available doses in a coordinated way to vaccinate educators in cities and towns. Pilot programs in Quincy and Chelsea have already proven successful. The governor's administration did not create a coordinated plan, so a coalition of unions stepped in and created one that will work – provided HHS Secretary Sudders releases the vaccine doses necessary.”
The Department of Health and Human Services did not offer any specific information regarding the status of the Last Mile proposal when queried.
Konkoly added that vaccinations are only one piece of the puzzle for a safe return to classrooms.
“Vaccination is an important, additional mitigation strategy, but school districts still need to work to implement and maintain all of the CDC recommendations for reducing the risk of COVID-19 transmission,” he said. “Mask wearing, 6-foot distancing, and accurate contact tracing are still fundamental safety measures. Vaccination does not eliminate the challenge of having adequate space for times like lunch when students remove their masks for an extended time. Vaccination does not eliminate the need for ongoing assessment of ventilation systems in all of the schools and even in particular spaces used within schools.”
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