Cherry Hill Superintendent Requests COVID Vaccine For Teachers

CHERRY HILL, NJ — Earlier this month, Cherry Hill Superintendent of Schools Dr. Joseph Meloche penned a letter to Gov. Phil Murphy, asking for teachers and school staff to be move educators to the highest priority when it comes to receiving the coronavirus vaccine.

“As the members of the Camden County Superintendent’s Roundtable, we are educational leaders who are responsible for tens of thousands of students and staff members in our schools and communities,” Meloche said in a letter that was co-signed by 33 superintendents from school districts throughout Camden County. “We implore you to assist us in providing a safe environment that is conducive to learning by assigning educators to the highest priority level to receive the COVID vaccination.”

The closest Murphy has come to publicly saying when teachers may get vaccinated came during the "Ask Governor Murphy" program on WBGO on Jan. 28th, which was nearly a month ago.
During the program, Murphy told the station and its callers that he believed educators would be able to start getting vaccinated "within weeks." You can listen to the segment here at the 12-minute mark.

“Our students, their families, and our staff members have continued to weather the challenges of the pandemic – maintaining an academic program that has provided for a continuity of learning,” the letter read. “Our educators want to give their students the best of learning experiences, they want to be in school full time with the students, and they want to be in an environment that is as safe as possible. Direct and prioritized accessibility to vaccinations is an absolute requirement for us to move forward in expanding the learning experiences.”

Murphy made a point of saying that the Biden administration has made vaccinations much more readily available, and New Jersey has had a surge in immunizations in recent weeks. Because of that, he said, it's much more possible that educators will get vaccinated "sooner than later."

As of Wednesday, there are now 26 sites in which residents can get vaccinated against the coronavirus in Camden County. That number grew when Rite Aid began offering the vaccine in their pharmacies. Read more here: COVID Vaccine Sites Now Open In Camden County: Here’s Where

“We support and applaud the efforts that have been made by the state and by Camden County to ensure that first responders, medical staff, the medically fragile and senior citizens received their vaccinations first,” the letter continued. Our school staff must be made the next priority in order to further stabilize the educational experiences for our students and to provide a genuine opportunity for many of our families to return to a sense in normalcy. Many of the families in our communities continue to be negatively impacted by the fact that schools are not able to be opened for full time in-person instruction for all students. In order to work, many families rely on children being in school during the day. This is a true equity issue that disproportionately affects those who have the most need. Appropriately vaccinating our staff will be a dramatic step forward in expanding opportunities and addressing this equity issue for so many of our students.

“Dr. Paschal Nwako, the Camden County Health Officer/Public Health Coordinator, has been a dedicated and responsive partner to all of us during this journey during the pandemic. As an accessible and responsive leader, he has served Camden County in solidarity with our work. Allow Camden County to serve as a model to vaccinate educators by establishing a temporary vaccination site at one of our high schools.

“We have demonstrated the ability to effectively pivot in transitioning our educational systems from full in person, to virtual, to hybrid combinations while distributing technology, materials, and meals. Allow us to work with Dr. Nwako to execute a plan that demonstrates the state’s commitment to the safety of the educational community and the ability to more fully open schools.

“Governor Murphy, please allow us to do this for the physical, mental, and fiscal health of our communities. Allowing us to provide the vaccinations to our staff will move the recovery forward in a dramatic fashion and directly and positively impact our students.”

Who is eligible for vaccination at this time?

Currently, vaccines are available to the following groups:

Healthcare Personnel (Phase 1A)

Paid and unpaid persons serving in health care settings who have the potential for direct or indirect exposure to patients or infectious materials, including, but not limited to:

• Licensed healthcare professionals like doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and dentists
• Staff like receptionists, janitors, mortuary services, laboratory technicians
• Consultants, per diem, and contractors who are not directly employed by the facility
• Unpaid workers like health professional students, trainees, volunteers, and essential caregivers
• Community health workers, doulas, and public health professionals like Medical Reserve Corps
• Personnel with variable venues like EMS, paramedics, funeral staff, and autopsy workers
• All workers in acute, pediatric, and behavioral health hospitals and ambulatory surgical centers
• All workers in health facilities like psychiatric facilities, Federally Qualified Health Centers, and rehabs
• All workers in clinic-based settings like urgent care clinics, dialysis centers, and family planning sites
• All workers in long-term care settings like nursing homes, assisted living facilities, group homes, and others
• All workers in occupational-based healthcare settings like health clinics within workplaces, shelters, jails, colleges and universities, and K-12 schools
• All workers in community-based healthcare settings like PACE and Adult Living Community Nursing
• All workers in home-based settings like hospice, home care, and visiting nurse services
• All workers in office-based healthcare settings like physician and dental offices
• All workers in public health settings like local health departments, LINCS agencies, harm reduction centers, and medicinal marijuana programs
• All workers in retail, independent, and institutional pharmacies
• Other paid or unpaid people who work in a healthcare setting, who may have direct or indirect contact with infectious persons or materials, and who cannot work from home.

Long-Term Care Residents and Staff (Phase 1A)

All residents and staff of long-term and congregate care facilities, including:

• Skilled nursing facilities
• Veterans homes
• Group homes like residential care homes, adult family homes, adult foster homes, and intellectual and developmental disabilities group homes
• HUD 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program residences
• Institutional settings like psychiatric hospitals, correctional institutions, county jails, and juvenile detention facilities (for eligible minors, e.g. 16+ years of age may be eligible for Pfizer vaccine under the emergency use authorization)
• Other vulnerable, congregate, long-term settings

First Responders (Phase 1B)

Sworn law enforcement, firefighters, and other first responders, including:

• New Jersey State Police troopers
• Municipal and county police officers
• Campus police officers
• Detectives in prosecutors' offices and state agencies
• State agency/authority law enforcement officers (such as State Park Police and Conservation officers, Palisades Interstate Parkway officers, Human Services police, and NJ Transit police)
• Investigator, parole and secured facilities officers
• Aeronautical operations specialists
• Sworn federal law enforcement officers and special agents
• Bi-state law enforcement officers (such as the Port Authority)
• Court Security Officers
• Paid and unpaid members of firefighting services (structural and wildland)
• Paid and unpaid members of search and rescue units including technical rescue units and HAZMAT teams
• Paid and unpaid firefighters who provide emergency medical services
• Paid and unpaid members of Industrial units that perform fire, rescue and HAZMAT services
• Members of State Fire Marshal's Offices
• Bi-state fire service personnel (such as the Port Authority)

Individuals at High Risk (Phase 1B)

Individuals aged 65 and older, and individuals ages 16-64 with medical conditions, as defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, that increase the risk of severe illness from the virus. These conditions include:

• Cancer
• Chronic kidney disease
• COPD (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease)
• Down Syndrome
• Heart conditions, such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, or cardiomyopathies
• Obesity (body mass index [BMI] of 30 kg/m2 or higher but < 40 kg/m2)
• Severe Obesity (BMI ≥ 40 kg/m2)
• Sickle cell disease
• Smoking
• Type 2 diabetes mellitus

Individuals who are pregnant and those in an immunocompromised state (weakened immune system) from solid organ transplant are also eligible but should follow CDC guidance and first discuss vaccination with their medical provider before receiving the vaccine. If you are currently eligible, click here for more information on where to get vaccinated.

Who is eligible for vaccination next?

• Additional frontline essential workers (Phase 1B)
• Other essential workers and people living in congregate settings (Phase 1C)
• General population (Phase 2)

This group was designated as 1B, and will likely be next:

• Foodservice workers
• Port Authority workers
• New Jersey Transit workers
• Teachers, staff, and childcare workers
• Workers who support radio, print, internet and television news and media services
• Other critical workers (CISA)
• Other essential workers

This group was originally designated as 1C:

• People living or working in congregate or overcrowded settings – such as colleges and universities
• People living or working in congregate or overcrowded settings – such as migrant workers
• People living or working in congregate or overcrowded settings - other tribal populations
• Other people at high risk of COVID-19 illness due to comorbidities, occupations, demographics, etc.

NOTE: Vaccination phases are tentative and subject to change. The movement between vaccination eligibility phases may be fluid. One phase may overlap with another. Not all individuals in each phase will be vaccinated before opening to additional groups, and not all groups within a specific phase will be made eligible to receive the vaccine at the same time.

Officials note that Garden State residents will not be able to receive a vaccine if any of these conditions apply on the day of appointment:

• If you have experienced any of the following symptoms in the past 48 hours: fever, chills, cough, shortness of breath, difficulty breathing, fatigue, muscle or body aches, headache, new loss of taste or smell, sore throat, congestion, runny nose, nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea.
• If, within the past 14 days, you have been in close physical contact (six feet or closer for a cumulative total of 15 minutes) with someone who has laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 or COVID-19 symptoms.
• If you are isolating or quarantining because you may have been exposed to a person with COVID-19 or are worried that you may be sick with COVID-19.
• If you are currently waiting on the results of a COVID-19 test.

Anyone that falls under these categories are asked to cancel their appointment.