All Santa Clara County Teachers Have Been Offered COVID Vaccine

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — All teachers and other school employees working in K-12 public schools in Santa Clara County have been offered a COVID-19 vaccination, county officials announced on Friday.

In a news release, the county didn’t specify how many teachers have received a vaccine. According to EdData, there were over 13,000 teachers in the county’s public school system during the 2018-19 school year, the last year for which data was available.

County officials praised outreach efforts by the County Office of Education along with a targeted vaccination site at the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds.

County Public Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody said in a news release that educators and parents should feel comfortable returning to in-person instruction, and “we hope they will do as soon as possible.”

“Schools have safely reopened for in-person instruction locally and across the country,” Cody said. “Especially now that teachers and staff have been offered vaccine, we urge all schools in the county to resume in-person instruction.”

Educators in Santa Clara County were made eligible for the vaccine on Feb. 28, and there has been a broad push among state and federal leaders to get teachers vaccinated and reopen schools. But there is a lack of data nationwide tracking how many teachers have actually been vaccinated.

In a statement to Patch, the county said it uses the state's immunization data reporting system, which doesn't collect occupational data for those who are vaccinated.

“The county is committed to getting vaccinations into the arms of teachers and school staff, and we saw so many eager educators come through our clinics,” Santa Clara County Supervisor Cindy Chavez said in a news release. “This is a welcome step, and we will not stop until our entire community has gotten access to the vaccine.”