Raleigh, North Carolina – About 400 teachers, school staff and child care workers received the first coronavirus vaccines in Wake County on Wednesday, the first day educators were eligible in the state.
“I was surprised they chose me so quickly,” said Jennifer Hyatt, an elementary school teaching assistant. “I feel like I can breathe, you know, a sigh of relief, because it’s been a long year.”
A few days ago, it looked like educators would have to wait a while behind tens of thousands of health workers and people 65 and older who had already signed up for vaccines. But after Wake County officials reviewed the list and removed those who had signed up numerous times and others who had already been shot elsewhere, there were only a hundred names left, allowing teachers to put on on line.
About 12,500 educators have already registered to receive shots in Wake County and about 3,000 of them have scheduled appointments, officials said.
“I think we’re really turning a corner in terms of our ability to keep up with the flow of people who need it,” said Matt Calabria, chairman of the Wake County Board of Commissioners. “We will be able to move around the educators very quickly and make sure they are vaccinated so they can go back to the classroom and feel more comfortable when they are there.”
Tawana Francis, a preschool teacher, said he protects his 3-year-old students and their families by getting vaccinated.
“I feel like I’m doing my part to get back to some kind of normalcy,” Francis said.
He has already contracted coronavirus and said he does not want to risk getting sick again.
“When you’re a certain age and you have underlying conditions, because I’m diabetic, every day I waited and prayed that I was okay because when you feel the numbers are still growing, you worry,” he said.
Keith Sutton, chairman of the Wake County Board of Education, said it will take some time to vaccinate most of the school district’s 11,000 teachers and another 9,000 school workers who want to receive the shots.
“It’s going to take a while, and that’s mainly due to the size of Wake County and the supply,” Sutton said.
As for Hyatt, his mother is 85 years old and the pandemic has kept them apart.
“I’ll be able to see my mom soon,” she said. “I will be more relaxed when I see her. It will be fantastic. “