State officials outlined a plan this week to reserve some 75,000 coronavirus vaccine doses from the state’s weekly shipments for school staff and child care workers across the state.
Starting March 1, the state will begin reserving 10 percent of its weekly vaccine shipments from the federal government for teachers, who will receive one-time codes that can be used to schedule vaccination appointments through the state’s MyTurn website, according to state officials.
Codes will be allocated based on how many education workers there are in a given area as well as how disproportionately affected a school’s students are by the pandemic. Expedited appointments will be offered based on how likely a teacher is to be exposed to the virus while working, according to state officials.
The state also plans to hold vaccination clinics over the next two weeks specifically for teachers and child care workers at mass-vaccination sites operated by the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency, including those at the Oakland Coliseum and California State University Los Angeles.
“Our top priority is getting students back in the classroom as safely and quickly as possible, and the expanded access to vaccines will build on the momentum and confidence that we can do so with urgency,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement.
Newsom announced the plan last week in an effort to hasten the reopening of the state’s K-12 schools.
According to Newsom, 35 of the state’s 58 counties have already made vaccine doses available to teachers after supply issues stalled the vaccination of other essential workers in December and January.
Ensuring vaccinations before teachers return to the classroom has been a sticking point in the reopening negotiations between state officials and teachers’ unions.
“We are calling for an aggressive plan focused on statewide safety measures to slow the spread along with a more rapid and effective vaccine rollout for essential workers, for educators, and for parents and guardians who work in critical infrastructure industries like food and agriculture and who live in vulnerable communities,” California Teachers Association President E. Toby Boyd said last month.
Food and agriculture workers have started to receive vaccination doses in addition to teachers in much of the state following the vaccination of health care workers, nursing home residents and staff and people age 65 and older.
Newsom and other state officials have also argued that the state’s new contracts with Blue Shield of California and Kaiser Permanente as third-party administrators of the vaccine rollout will streamline the process.
Roughly 8.2 million vaccine doses have been administered statewide, according to the California Department of Public health. The state is receiving nearly 1.5 million doses per week from the federal government.
17 comments
Someone is lying about when and who gets shots.I just talked to a school teacher who is nowhere near 65.He was on his way to Oakland to get his first shot.Also know someone who put down a false birthdate and got the shot.They didn’t ask for medical card or any ID.
A 30 year old former coworker just got one, not sure how she jumped the line since the tier she falls into wasn’t supposed to be up yet, or why she felt the need to post the vax card on social media.
I read in the news that two young women in their 20’s dressed up like little old ladies and got their shot. However, they got caught when they went for their 2nd dose and were refused. That means two doses were wasted because now they will have to start over when it’s their time.
Educators are already eligible in Contra Costa and Alameda counties. This announcement is just about setting aside a certain percentage for them and issuing codes. For the past few days teachers have already been getting vaccinated in our area, regardless of age.
Not sayin’ that’s a great idea, but that is the fact
I can’t believe people actually want this poison.
Oh please! How about the state just makes an honest attempt to vaccinate all teachers who are interested instead of making it about the “disproportionately affected”. Can they do nothing without making it political?!
Newsom is in a pickle. He can’t lean on the unions because they own him. Further, he has to be careful NOT to get all the teachers vaccinated because the unions have no intention of opening the schools vaccinations or not. Therefore, he does not want the teachers vaccinated, it would make his image problem far worse.
What if a teacher doesn’t want the vaccine? Do they get to stay home and do the online work only?
…. will there be a requirement to go back to in class lessons for the kids? noooooooooo
this business is just plan evil
Pepole, know what you are taking.
. Taking any vaccines at your own risk.
And in the meantime my elderly grandma can’t seem to get an appt to get the vaccine, and she wants it.
I don’t want it, and I’ve refused an opportunity twice! Talk about a screwed up system.
It really should just be age-based. Age is far and away the most important risk factor. And it is simple and easy to apply as a criterion. Everything else is either too complicated to apply, slowing down the process and inviting cheating, or it is suboptimal for saving lives. Or both.
If they will not teach in-person NOW…then why vaccinate? Make um wait until everyone else has been vaccinated, and all restaurants are allowed to open, before they ever get near a dose.
BTW- The troll escaped from California today. Literally could not get out fast enough. On our drive we were able to have dine-in breakfast…an no, I won’t tell you where. Gave our waitress a +80% tip for taking that risk.
We really loved our neighbors, the clerks at Safeway and CVS, my barber, etc…just hated the downward spiral of my home state. We will get to our new home in 2 more days. You’ll receive The Troll Report from time to time.
Godspeed to you, Chuckie .
The hubby and dog pulled out at 3:30 am this morning. Our exodus has officially begun. Trailer trashing it while land clearing and prep to hopefully be in new home by Christmas. Hard to pack up 60 x2 years of being native Californians.
Enjoyed your straight-shooting comments. Thanks for keeping us sane.
Congratulations to both of you fleeing this “loooovely” state. Har har
Have a glass of champagne for me and toast your new found freedom.
Teachers are literally stealing a vaccine from the elderly and at risk, like AIDs and cancer patients, so they can continue to sit at home and not go to work, in complete comfort, without any threat of contracting the virus.
A 25 year old teacher is getting a vaccine right now in preference to a 85 year old man. That old man will get the virus and have a good likelihood of succumbing to the virus, which is an agonizing, nightmarish death I remind you.
It’s evil, it’s wrong, it’s unthinkably cruel and every teacher who gets their vaccine should feel absolutely despicable about themselves for the rest of their mortal days.
Comments are closed.