CT Teacher Union Pushes For Teacher Vaccines Immediately

CONNECTICUT — The largest teacher union in Connecticut is pushing for state officials to allow teachers and school staff to get vaccinated immediately instead of waiting.

“Our students can’t wait,” said Connecticut Education Association President Jeff Leake in a statement. “The time is now to vaccinate teachers and school staff, getting our educators where they want to be—safely in school with their students, where they can focus on the social and emotional learning needs of their students—without jeopardizing their health.”

The CEA released a campaign urging Connecticut to begin vaccinating teachers. Several former teachers of the year joined in the message.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommended that teachers be part of phase 1b of the vaccination campaign along with other frontline essential workers and people over the age of 75.

The CDC 1b group comes immediately after 1a (frontline healthcare workers and nursing home/assisted living staff/residents) and before 1c, which includes people between the ages of 65 and 74.

Ultimately states had discretion on how to phase vaccine administration. Connecticut stuck with the CDC’s 1a guidelines and then moved to vaccinate people over the age of 75. Last week Connecticut started vaccinating people between 65 and 74.

Gov. Ned Lamont has focused on the older contingent of residents in an effort to stem coronavirus hospitalizations and deaths especially given the limited amount of vaccine. Residents 70 and older make up 80 percent of Connecticut’s coronavirus deaths, but only 11.5 percent of all cases, according to data from the state Department of Public Health.

There are currently 28 states that have made all or some teachers eligible for the vaccine, according to CNN. New York State allows teachers to get vaccinated as of Feb. 17, but Massachusetts and Rhode Island don’t.

Lamont will make an announcement by the end of next week about when teachers can get vaccinated. He has previously projected vaccination appointments for teachers starting sometime in March.

“We’ve got to see what the take-up is, for the 65 and above we’ve got to see if the supply keeps up… there are a couple of variables there, but I think we’ll be able to lend some real clarity by the end of next week,” he said during a news conference.

Some other states have already broadened who is eligible for the vaccine. Massachusetts will add people with two health concerns as well as people over the age of 65 on Thursday.

“I know a number of other states have done this differently, some other states have thrown a lot more people into the eligibility pile at once, but there is a big difference between being eligible and actually having appointments to get a vaccine,” state Chief Operating Officer Josh Geballe said during a news conference.

Lamont said he wouldn’t mandate the vaccine for teachers, but would try to make it as easy as possible for them to get it if they want it. He thanked teachers and school staff for getting the large majority of schools reopened.

“We’ve shown that we can get schools open, we’ve shown we can do it safely...you see that reflected in the numbers,” he said, adding that the rate of infections among the school community is less than the general state population.

There have been 5,566 documented coronavirus cases among teachers and staff in PreK-12 schools in Connecticut since the beginning of the school year, according to the state Department of Public Health.

The CDC recently changed its quarantine guidance so that fully vaccinated individuals don’t have to quarantine if they are exposed to the coronavirus.

“Since the leading cause of school closures in Connecticut is teacher and staff shortages due to quarantines, vaccinating educators as soon as possible means our schools will be able to remain open,” Leake said.