CPS To Launch School-Based Vaccination Site For Teachers, Staff

CHICAGO — Starting next week, public school teachers and staff will be able to get coronavirus vaccine shots at four testing sites.

Public school officials have teamed with the city health department to make good on a promise to inoculate 1,500 teachers with a first vaccine dose each week. The vaccination sites are dedicated for public school staff.

"The launch of these vaccination sites and the expansion of this surveillance testing program are core measures that only strengthen our already-robust safety strategy," Mayor Lori Lightfoot said in a statement. "These efforts, taken together, will provide families and CPS staff with the certainty they deserve about returning to in-person instruction and further prove just how prepared our schools are to safely welcome our children back into the classroom."

As of Friday, about 7,500 CPS employees have been offered vaccine doses, officials said.

The four school-based vaccination sites will be open during hours that aim to fit with staff scheduling and limit work and learning disruptions. The vaccinations will be scheduled in advance. Employees when appointments are available to them based on the equity-based priority list established by the district. If an employee misses their initial opportunity to sign up, the district will provide an additional offer at a later date, officials said.

“Vaccination and expanded testing are important parts of the overall strategy to keep schools safe for our students, staff and school communities,” city public health commissioner Dr. Allison Arwady said in a statement. “With other mitigation efforts such as masking, social distancing and cleaning protocols, other school districts have shown in-person learning can be done safely and that schools are not a source of COVID spread.”