Gov. Brian Kemp announced on Feb. 25 that teachers and staff would be eligible for COVID-10 vaccinations on March 8 and said individual school districts would make their own plans
Fulton County Schools already had a plan for teachers even before Kemp made the announcement, something the governor mentioned in his press conference. But Atlanta Public Schools and the DeKalb County School District aren’t far behind.
FCS and APS are working with the Fulton County Board of Health for special events to get school district personnel vaccinated.
APS plans March vaccinations
APS plans a single vaccination event in March.
The school district also encourages employees to get vaccinated on their own. “They don’t necessarily have to wait for our vaccination event,” said APS spokesperson Ian Smith.
APS reports that it has approximately 5,000 employees, with more than 3,100 teaching professionals.
Fulton plans two vaccination sessions
FCS has plans for two six-day sessions to treat approximately 5,000 employees, with each getting two doses of the vaccine, the school district said in a news release. The school district plans to scale up planning done for two Super Saturday events on Jan. 16 and Feb. 6 at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium for employees aged 65 or older. More than 500 employees were vaccinated.
As final details are set with dates scheduled, FCS will tell employees the dates, times and how to participate in the vaccinations.
FCS has approximately 14,000 full and part-time employees, with more than 7,500 of them being teachers and other certified staff.
DeKalb trains school nurses to vaccinate teachers
The 31 nurses in the DeKalb County School District have been trained and are being credentialed to allow them to vaccinate teachers when the vaccine is made available, the school system said. They are collaborating with the DeKalb Board of Health, which is setting up the next steps and providing guidance.
DeKalb reports it has approximately 15,500 employees, with 6,600 employed as teachers.