The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that teachers should be part of the next group of people who should be vaccinated. However, despite this recommendation from the CDC, the final decision will still come from each state.
According to reports, every governor has their approach regarding the COVID-19 Vaccine distribution.
Some public-school teachers and school nurses in some states in the country have been vaccinated already. However, a big number of the population of teachers are still waiting to get vaccinated.
States that prioritized teachers in the COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution
In the state of Indiana, specifically in Knox Country, several teachers were vaccinated last December 28. According to a report from the Education Week, these teachers were vaccinated because there were extra vials. It was not because they were prioritized.
In Evansville, a news outlet reported that teachers were put in the list for vaccination because of some sort of mistake. Reports say that the vaccines which were removed from the freezer had to be given on the same day, that is why the teachers were placed in the list.
On Friday, school nurses in a school district in Colorado. The teachers are expected to have the COVID-19 vaccine in the middle of January.
Disappointment over the COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution
Despite the recommendation of CDC to prioritize teachers in COVID-19 Vaccine distribution, there are still states that decided not to do so.
In Florida, teachers are disappointed that their governor, Ron DeSantis, decided not to provide COVID-19 vaccines to teachers.
That is why teachers are upset, especially since schools have been ordered to reopen last fall.
Teachers in El Paso are also disappointed that they were not moved up in the list of priority for the COVID-19 vaccines.
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Reopening schools
President-elect Joe Biden announced that he wants to have most of the schools reopened in the first 100 days of his administration.
A relief package amounting to $54 billion was recently approved by the Congress. This fund will be allotted to cover the needs in preventing the spread of coronavirus in schools.
In a few weeks, Timothy White will be Biden's chief pandemic adviser. The chancellor of California State University System, Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that once he is officially the adviser of Biden, he will put forward the prioritization of teachers COVID-19 Vaccine distribution.
White acknowledged, in a recent interview with The Washington Post, that it is important to bring the children back to schools. That is why he explained, "The idea of vaccinating teachers is very high up in the priority as well as surveillance in the schools so you can get a good feel for the penetration of infection."
