[DIANA LAMBERT, EDSOURCE, JANUARY 22, 2021]
El Dorado County, with a total population of 193,000 people and 3,500 school employees, is further ahead than many in the state.
School staff in the county began receiving their first doses of the vaccine last week.
While it will likely take until mid-February to vaccinate all school employees who want it, county Superintendent of Schools Ed Manansala is optimistic.
“The sense of hope and promise in El Dorado County, it shifted this week,” he said. “When you start seeing people having access to vaccinations within our sector — the education sector — this is good news.”
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An unpredictable vaccine supply and lack of statewide coordination has school districts across California struggling to figure out how to vaccinate their teachers and other school staff — and equally importantly, when.
After health care workers and staff at long-term care facilities, teachers and other school employees are included in the next phase (Phase 1B) of the state’s vaccine rollout.
But when they actually get vaccinated will depend on how many doses come into the state and are made available in each county, if there are sites to distribute vaccines and whether their counties have finished vaccinating health care workers and nursing home residents in Phase 1A of California’s roll out plan.
Interviews with county schools chiefs and district leaders indicate wide disparities in how far along school districts in different parts of the state are in vaccinating school staff.
There is widespread agreement on the importance of vaccinating school employees. To that end, earlier this month Gov. Gavin Newsom moved teachers higher on the state’s vaccination list in an effort to get schools reopened. The California Teachers Association has said that vaccinating school staff is important to reopening schools safely, along with ...
