Teachers To Be Prioritized In NC's Vaccine Eligibility Expansion

NORTH CAROLINA — North Carolina K-12 and childcare teachers will be prioritized at the front of the line in the state's upcoming expansion of vaccine eligibility to frontline essential workers, Gov. Roy Cooper said Wednesday.

Educators and school personnel will be eligible to receive the vaccine Feb. 24, with additional frontline essential workers added to the eligibility list on March 10, Cooper said.

Those included in the school prioritization include teachers, principals, childcare providers, bus drivers, custodial and cafeteria staff and others in pre-K-12 schools and childcare centers, Cooper said, adding the group was estimated to include about 240,000 people.

The governor said the phased approach would help streamline distribution in a "complicated" Group 3, which includes a wide range of occupations deemed essential, including law enforcement, grocery workers, and those working in restaurants.

Currently, the state is vaccinating healthcare workers with in-person patient contact, long-term care facility staff and residents and those 65 and older. Of those eligible to receive the vaccine in the latter group, about half of those 65 and older in the state have had a shot, according to DHHS.

"It’s critical to get this age group vaccinated as more than 80 percent of COVID deaths happen to people 65 and up," Cooper said.

Schools can still reopen in the two-week interim before the educator vaccinations begin, he said.

"We know educators can continue to work safely before being vaccinated as long as schools follow state health guidance. Students can be back in schools safely now. That’s what I want them to do," Cooper said.

SEE ALSO: NC Schools Should Return To In-Person Learning: Gov. Cooper

Last week, Cooper urged schools across the state to return to in-person learning, citing stabilizing numbers of COVID-19 cases. The call to return to classrooms without prompt vaccination of teachers, however, was sharply criticized by state educators.

"If Governor Cooper feels so strongly about resuming in-person instruction quickly, then he should support educators and immediately bring the full weight of his office to bear to get all educators vaccinated by the end of this month, just as 25 other states have been able to do," North Carolina Association of Educators President Tamika Walker Kelly said in a Feb. 2 statement.

Cooper's announcement comes one day after the Biden Administration announced North Carolina's federal vaccine allotment would be increased. The increase amounts to about 7,500 doses in addition to the current 150,000 doses the state receives weekly.

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