17 Replies to "VACCINATION: Seattle superintendent wants higher priority for educators & other personnel; King County announces clinic/mobile plan"

• Jamie January 8, 2021 (5:08 pm)

  This makes a lot of sense to me, especially with the new, more highly infectious variants of the virus spreading in the community.  I will happily forgo my vaccine for another month or two if we can prioritize teachers and get students safely back into the classrooms.

  • Anne January 8, 2021 (5:53 pm)

    I feel the same-teachers -all school employees  must be able to get fully vaccinated before in person school starts again. I’ll wait,too if that’s what it takes. 

• JJ January 8, 2021 (8:57 pm)

  I’ve disagreed with Juneau over many matters, but this makes a lot of sense. It’s silly to bring kids back without vaccinations. We are so close to vaccine induced immunity. Why throw our sacrifices away?

• SLJ January 8, 2021 (10:13 pm)

  I completely agree! One of the issues most people seem to agree on it that schools need to reopen in-person as soon as possible. Vaccines for all school staff is the best way to safely make that happen. Please vaccinate all school staff, not just those over 50, as soon as possible.

• flimflam January 9, 2021 (7:31 am)

  while everyone deserves the vaccine “first” in their minds, how about the grocery workers? these so called essential workers have been on the job since this began and have not been given a choice to just stay home….

  • Jamie January 9, 2021 (4:02 pm)

    I’m also with you on this. This is one of the most essential roles that we have fight now and they have greater exposure to the community than almost anyone else.

    • SLJ January 9, 2021 (6:07 pm)

      I absolutely agree that grocery and other retailers are essential. The difference is, teachers are exposed to a group of kids for 6 hours a day, as opposed to a few minutes a day for retail workers. Retail workers are obviously exposed to many more people, but for such a short time the risk is mitigated a bit. I worry about teachers being in one poorly-ventilated classroom with an asymptomatic person for hours a day. Have there been cases of spread through a grocery store? If so, that changes the situation too. And no, I’m not a teacher trying to get my vaccine first. I just think having kids in school is the best way for them to learn, and for parents to be able to work.

• anonyme January 9, 2021 (7:37 am)

  There is a lot about this “plan” that does not make sense.  Agree that teachers should be vaccinated before school re-opens.  Still no clarification from any source on when seniors (high risk by definition) under 70 will be eligible.

  • LJ January 9, 2021 (12:54 pm)

    I agree. Many grandparents under 70 who provide child care or remote learning assistance (for their 2nd grade and up siblings) would then be potentially exposing themselves to 14 other households. (15 to 1 student/teacher ratio for in-person learning). I’m not saying teachers don’t deserve or warrant a space near the front of the line. To me this plan feels like a petri dish experiment begun too soon in the vaccine rollout. 

• Ken January 9, 2021 (7:40 am)

  I commend Juneau for sending this letter. My wife is a 1st grade teacher and over 50 in Seattle schools. I am also over 50 and have some cobmorbidties. We have discussed this, and she will not go back March 1 without getting the vaccine (and allowing for time for both shots and for them to take effect, she will need her first vaccination by Feb 1st.) She can’t wait to be back in class with her kids, and I am optimistic they will make it happen, but it really is non-negotiable.

• zark00 January 9, 2021 (1:13 pm)

  We are so screwed.  They can’t even plan properly, execution is failing across the board, their priorities are wrong, their plan to distribute is a joke, they have no clue what they’re doing and less of a clue how to get there.  There will be no in-person school for the 2021-2022 school year.  Closures and lock downs will continue through 2021. The vaccine will not be distributed to enough people to matter until late 2021. It will be well into 2022 before we see any return to normalcy, if we ever do. Leadership has failed us and are bailing before the bill comes due. While her request here is sound, Juneau is bailing on us, she’s part of the problem not the solution.  Her handling of remote learning is still hurting our kids, and now she’s cutting and running. 

• Sarra January 9, 2021 (3:32 pm)

  Insane that teachers will be pressured by the state and their admin to return to in-person teaching in March, when most will not be able to get the vaccine until April. If you want teachers back in classrooms, then prioritize their vaccinations! 

• Dcn January 9, 2021 (4:59 pm)

  Other school districts in the area are already opening. Bellevue will have K-2 open by the end of January. Mercer Island already opened to Kindergarten, plans to have grades 1 and 2 back by the end of the month, and 6-12 back before the end of March. It might be possible to have more limited exposure in an elementary classroom, where students are not moving between classrooms. Young children may also not spread the virus as efficiently as adults, although this is not for certain. But in grades 6-12, even with a hybrid schedule at 50% class size, you will have students rotating through 6 classes over the course of a week, being exposed to different students in each class.As a teacher, I will see all 150 of my students indoors, several times a week, for prolonged periods of time. Each of my students will be in contact with other students and teachers beyond my 150, further increasing my risk. I’m not even going to start on the limited bathrooms, narrow hallways, and the quirkiness of old building ventilation systems. I see no way to prevent widespread outbreaks. I’m over 50 and so am in line for a vaccination in February. I won’t return until I am sure that the vaccine has time to take effect or until community transmission is low. I am the sole parent and provider for my child, so I can’t risk becoming debilitated (or worse). I will take unpaid leave, if necessary. I know many teachers who feel the same way. Many are also under 50 and so won’t get vaccinated until April.  Middle and high schools will have a large staffing problem if they decide to open up before their staff can get vaccinated. We have almost no substitute pool available. I’m also conflicted ethically, since even if I am protected, some my students will most likely bring home Covid-19 to their families because young people are much more likely to be asymptomatic. Is it right for me to teach while I fear the likelihood that some of my students are going to spread a dangerous disease to their parents who are not as low-risk as their children? If parents choose to keep their children at home while the rest return, the children learning at home will have an even more degraded learning experience as teachers shift their focus and time to in-person teaching. Students and parents will also have to realize that in-person learning will not be satisfactory either, since there can be no group work or labs, no one-on-one up close help from the teacher, or many of the interactions that make in-school learning so rich.And to the grocery store worker: I agree with you that essential frontline workers like grocery store employees should be in the next vaccinated group. You have risked yourselves in a high risk profession for long enough without adequate protection.

• CJ January 10, 2021 (8:32 am)

  It’s great to see school leaders advocating for the safety of school staff. Many other states have prioritized teachers and the fact WA hasn’t to the same degree is frustrating. Please call your reps in Olympia and express your support for all school staff to be bumped up the vaccine line so we can safely get back to online learning. You can find your reps here: https://app.leg.wa.gov/districtfinder/

• Math teacher January 10, 2021 (4:08 pm)

  Juneau’s list didn’t include the school nurses, school bus drivers, and substitute teachers.  These staff members often interact with more than one school, and so have the potential to transmit infections from building to building.   Oh and the office staff. Since nurses are typically part-time, it is the often the main office staff who are frontline workers interacting with sick kiddos. 

  • anonyme January 11, 2021 (7:02 am)

    Excellent point, there are many employees other than teachers involved in education that do not have priority status for the vaccine.  I personally know a school bus driver who is an anti-mask conspiracy theorist.  As none of us lives in a vacuum, It’s almost impossible for anyone to be safe until everyone is vaccinated.

• Admiral Mom January 10, 2021 (11:24 pm)

  Supt Juneau thanks and please leave soon. And take Chief Jesse, Chief Kokx, Chief Codd and Chief Berge with you. That right there will save our district more than 1 million dollars a year. Imagine all the PPE we can buy with that.

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