Teachers unions across the state are pushing to be vaccinated before returning to the classroom. Some counties are offering it, but most educators haven’t been able to get a dose yet.
“I’m getting emails and phone calls from my district staff saying ‘hey, they’re [vaccinating teachers] in this county and that county,’ what are you guys doing and why are we not doing it here?” said West Contra Costa School Board President Mister Phillips.
Most counties and providers are still only vaccinating healthcare workers and people 75 and older.
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“So many people talk about how critical it is to have safe open schools to the economy and to
the entire public health, but we need to really take action on that,” said Contra Costa County School Board Association President Cherise Khaund.
President Biden and Governor Newsom are pushing to have elementary schools reopened by the end of march. Both pointing to recent CDC studies saying reopening schools should be a priority, and there is little evidence of spreading the infection when proper precautions are taken.
Newsom is offering billions to incentivize them to reopen safely and some did Monday, like Blossom Hill Elementary in Los Gatos.
Three out of every five students went back. Others will return later or may choose to continue distance learning.
When it comes to the vaccine, multiple counties say the problem continues to be supply.
The more vaccines that come in – the faster it’ll move into that 1B tier which includes school workers, and those working in food and agriculture.
