Recently the CDC announced that nearly 80% of the US’s teachers have been vaccinated with at least their first shot of the COVID-19 vaccination. These numbers are the result of President Biden’s push in March to get K-12 teachers and staff vaccinated. Biden called for every teacher to get at least their first dose by the end of March, and it looks like it’s paid off.
Nearly 80 percent of teachers and childcare staff have received at least their first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced on Tuesday.
More than 2 million teachers, school staff and childcare workers got one dose of the vaccine through the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program by the end of March. An additional 5-6 million were vaccinated through their state programs, the CDC’s latest estimates and survey data found.
“Our push to ensure that teachers, school staff, and childcare workers were vaccinated during March has paid off and paved the way for safer in-person learning,” said Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, the CDC director, in a statement.
“CDC will build on the success of this program and work with our partners to continue expanding our vaccination efforts, as we work to ensure confidence in COVID-19 vaccines,” she added.
The announcement comes one month after President Joe Biden said he would be directing states to prioritize the vaccination of pre-K through 12 educators and staff and childcare workers as part of his push to reopen schools.
I pretty sure we’re discussing public schools here. The multiple articles I referenced never outright stated it, but a few had public schools as tags. Private schools have been open for most of the year anyway, and I assume they are getting vaccinated as well. This is fantastic news. I know So Cal had the March push. They closed off some giant parking structures in LA and Orange County. Gov Newsom flew down for it, sports figures showed up and hundreds of teachers and school staff got vaccinated in about two days. Three days later we received an email that our kids would be back in school in two weeks. It was amazing. Those poor teachers have enough to deal with trying to sort out the whole blended learning model, they shouldn’t have to worry about getting sick too.
As for the remaining 20%, I hope that number narrows this month. It could represent anti-vaxx teachers. I understand some staff have medical reasons why they can’t get the vaccine, that’s what the herd immunity is for. But 80% is a great start.
The article also mentioned that the CDC said it’s safe for kids to be positioned three feet apart instead of six, which means more kids per classroom. It also means we, as parents, can be less concerned about the fact that the kids have trouble adhering to social distancing outside the classrooms.
Photo credit: Getty Images
That’s amazing to hear!! Teachers did not sign up to put their lives on the line, they deserve to be vaccinated and get a massive raise for the last year. Seriously, thank you to all the teachers out there:)
Also, very few also signed up to teach from home on whatever equipment they had laying around the house. There aren’t enough good things to say about how they’ve made it work.
SO, SO TRUE!!
The 5G reception in schools must be off the charts now! Truly awesome though. I get my 2nd shot tomorrow, can’t wait to be fully vaxxed.
Lol. I have been relieved that my kids were out of high school when Covid hit. It was tricky enough at their universities but my heart went out to all pre-k through 12 parents, students and teachers trying to maintain even a shred of normalcy. Finally it seems to be in sight.
I’m a teacher who did everything correctly in an in-person environment, I masked, sanitized, spread kids out, etc., and because there was no mask mandate at the time I still got covid. My system lost two employees—our friends—to covid. All of this was around Christmas and thankfully we have a mandate for every person in our system to wear masks now.
The feeling I get while reading this headline is amazing. The way we have felt when vaccines opened to teachers and our systems organized quick massive vaccination rollouts for us (I’m in GA)….it brings us to tears.
So very sorry for you losses and best to you. Teachers are amazing, among the very best people I know.
I’m so frightened of the horror stories from the states. In my province, Alberta, most teachers won’t be vaccinated until June. Gee, great planning there 🤦♀️
Teacher AND pregnant lady here! Proud to be among that 80% Most of my fellow teachers eagerly got theirs as well.
I’m also among the 80% of teachers vaccinated. Waiting for the 2nd dose next week. Yay!
Biden did America good. Happy for all the teachers out here who were able to get their shots!!!!
I’ve been a high school teacher for 18 years and last week I sent in my resignation and will not be returning to teaching after this year. I stuck it out through COVID, the loss of two collegues at our school and 8 overall in our district. Teachers were blamed for “not caring about kids” and I couldn’t count the number of social media posts from parents who “couldn’t wait to get thier kids out of the house” and were clamoring for schools to reopen no matter the risk to staff because “COVID doesn’t affects kids.”
My husband is terrified that I’ll be a victim of a school shooting, or the target of AAPI hate, which I’ve already seen a rise in sentiment among my kids/community. Just all of that piled on, I couldn’t do it anymore and quit. I loved my job, but not at the cost of my mental health or maybe my life. Support your teacher friends, please, they need it.
Put your safety and mental health first, ClareV. It’s important to look out for ourselves.
I hope you will find a new path that fulfills you as much as teaching did for the past 18 years 🙂
I am truly sorry and upset that you quit. It is hard to be a teacher. I’m a retired (secondary math) teacher and admire all of you who are dealing with this. In my state teachers were not prioritized to get shots early and are now just getting them. With everyone so eager to open schools they should have prioritized teachers with health care workers. I help my grandchildren with their virtual learning and could not do it (especially with the 5th grader) without all the help I received from the teachers, especially his. Thank you for all you have done for the students in your life. Best of luck to you.
Honestly after being told that I was “lazy” because I didn’t want to put my high risk self at work because parents were sick of having to interact with their own children (no, that’s not me putting words in their mouths, they straight up admitted this) if my husband made enough money for me to quit I would have handed in my resignation in December.
In my area at least we’re now honest in admitting that public schools are really no more than daycares. Especially for the really violent SPED kids I serve. I didn’t sign up to die for ungrateful selfish people not wearing a mask because “freedom”. It was definitely wild listening to parents tell me flat out “my child’s social interaction is more important than the risk of Covid to you. They’re bored. They’re sad. They’re driving me crazy.”
Okay, and now 5 staff including 2 spouses in my district have died. Way to go, people.
(I should add that my district has been in person all year since August, with classrooms shutting down left and right for two week quarantine periods.)
Another vaccinated teacher here. We’ve been on-site since the beginning of February and the littles have been in person pretty much all year. I read and see a lot of talk about kids staying 3 feet away from each other and social distancing, but that is not what I’m seeing at all.
The behavior of most of our parents this year has been truly appalling. Now, they are pushing to eliminate masks. They are blaming the teachers for everything that isn’t part of a “normal” school year when in reality we have no voice in the changes.
If I were in a position to retire or change professions, I would. Many of my colleagues are leaving. This school year can’t end soon enough.
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I am so sorry, you as teachers were put into the place you were. Where i’m from, small rural town in Ca, most parents and our school board did not have the teachers back. It was so shameful. I kept my kids online until the teachers were able to get vaccinated. Honestly they should have been right up there with first responders. Remember, the trump lovers always said that the economy couldn’t survive if the kids weren’t in school and their parents couldn’t work. They never gave a damn about the teachers. I love our teachers, most are Latina because we are a spanish/english immersion school. They were thrown under the bus and totally disrespected. i’m glad you are thinking of yourself and your family. Teachers didn’t deserve the treatment they got.
My state prioritized teachers very early on, they were one of the first groups eligible (starting in mid-January) which I thought was exactly how it should be. We can’t push for schools to reopen but not prioritize the teachers and other school staff getting vaccinated.
I’m so sorry for all the teachers who have faced slander and ridicule from selfish parents out there. Your lives are much more important than their “right” to free childcare. I’ve been pretty appalled at the whole mess this past year, white parents pushing for premature reopening, I truly hope it gets better soon.
Teachers are being vaccinated next weekend in my country, well the second half of us. Primary and kindergarten have already been vaccinated…
Not here. In our rural, midwestern school district only about 30-40% of teachers got the vaccine. Because Trump. *eye roll*