The school district is eagerly awaiting the vaccine distribution that could come to school employees starting sometime in February. Teachers have been put into the 1B group. We have been told that the 1B groups can start getting vaccinated on Feb. 1.

We have been getting communication from our county health departments helping us get organized and some detailed information. The headline is what people see and that is the date 1B can begin getting vaccinated. The trick is that date doesn’t mean all teachers in the county will be lined up and given the vaccine on Feb. 1.

Much of the available vaccine will go to elderly people in the county. We have been told 50% of the vaccines will go to the elderly. The other 50% will then be distributed to the rest of the 1B group. 

The next hurdle is going to be the distribution of the vaccine to all the school employees of the county. The call from the county health department could come in February or March. Maybe April. 

We are hoping to also get a seven-day heads-up our 1B group is ready to be vaccinated. We know that each bottle of vaccine will vaccinate about 10-12 people. We are beginning our work to get our groups organized and ready to go once we get the phone call. Highland Schools has registered to be a site to give the vaccine, but we are not sure if county officials will come out and administer the vaccine here or make people go to a specific site.

Our big concern is trying to have the staff split when giving the vaccine with half of the staff one week and the other half the following week. We have heard on the news and from people who have already done the vaccine that some people have been ill a day or two after the vaccine shot.

We are hoping to avoid having to do the entire staff at once and risk the next day having a lot of sick teachers! Or we are hoping they vaccinate on a Friday. We don’t want to ruin a staff members weekend but we also could not handle 10 teachers calling in sick the next day.

We hope this is the final hurdle for COVID-19. We all have been dealing with this epidemic for close to a year. We are all fatigued by COVID. Students, staff and parents have had a crazy year dealing with masks, hand sanitizer, distancing, in and out of school and eating lunches far away from their friends.

To see the students handle these situations would make you proud. Elementary students were a major concern when we were implementing all of our mitigation measures last August. But they have been the best to step up and follow directions. We have all had a tough year but the community should be proud of the efforts of their students. Now we are hoping the final hurdle over COVID is here.