Weighing teachers’ eligibility
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the new director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, laid out her agency’s position on opening schools.
“There is increasing data to suggest that schools can safely reopen,” she said today at a news briefing, adding, “Vaccination of teachers is not a prerequisite for safe reopening of schools.”
Plenty of teachers don’t agree. In some areas, teachers’ unions say they won’t send members back to classrooms without vaccinations. Teachers in 24 states and Washington have begun receiving vaccines, often ahead of people in professions or living situations that may put them at higher risk.
But in some areas, teachers have taught in person for months and educators are not yet eligible for vaccines. And some say that vaccinating teachers might impede reopenings: In California, unions are calling for all teachers to receive vaccines before returning to the classroom, a demand that Gov. Gavin Newsom said could prevent schools from opening this academic year.
Teacher vaccinations remain a moral quandary for states grappling with how to allocate their growing-but-still-limited vaccine supply, especially as more contagious virus variants begin to spread. Incarcerated people, for example, are vulnerable to outbreaks and death, but often fall behind educators. Older adults, too, have sometimes taken a back seat.
In Oregon, teachers will receive vaccines before some residents who are 75 years or older, who are eligible for shots only in certain counties.
Gov. Kate Brown said the move to start vaccinating Oregon’s teachers was part of her plan to bring students back into the classroom this school year.
“For every teacher who is back in the classroom, they help 20, 30, 35 students get their lives back on track,” she said. “They help ensure 20, 30, 35 kids have access to mental health support. They make sure 20, 30, 35 kids get breakfast and lunch several days a week. And they allow families to know their children are in good hands when they go to work.”
The New York Times