Texas teachers, child care workers now eligible for COVID-19 vaccine

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Texas teachers are now eligible for COVID-19 vaccines, health officials announced Wednesday.

With immediate effect, all Texas vaccine providers should include all school staff, Head Start staff and child care staff in their vaccine administration programs, according to a notice. shipped to providers by Texas State Department of Health services.

The warning comes after the Biden administration on Tuesday urged all states to prioritize immunization of teachers and school staff. Texas had not previously prioritized teachers. Texas received a letter from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Tuesday night directing it to expand eligibility, according to a DSHS press release.

Eligible are those who work in preschool, primary and secondary schools, as well as the Head Start and Early Head Start programs (including teachers, staff and bus drivers) and those who work as providers of licensed daycare or for them. including center-based and family-based care providers, ”according to the federal directive.

State health officials said earlier this week that they hope to end vaccination of older and vulnerable jeans in the coming weeks and expand eligibility to include more jeans by the end of the month.

This new group was expected to include teachers ahead of Wednesday’s announcement, but officials have not said who would be more in this new “1C” group.

The first priority groups 1A and 1B, according to health officials, include more than 8 million people, including front-line health workers, people over the age of 65 and those of any age with medical vulnerabilities.

Early teacher inclusion occurs as vaccine supplies increase and 2 million people, or 6.8% of the Texas population, have been fully vaccinated with both doses of the two-shot regimens.

The recently approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which requires only one dose, began being administered in Texas this week, officials said.

As of March 1, 5.7 million doses have been administered, and providers across the state are administering an average of 123,469 doses of vaccine each day over the past week. None of the vaccines are approved for children under 16, who account for approximately 23% of the population.

The supply of the vaccine is still far from the demand and the number of people eligible to obtain it.

The decision also comes the day after Gov. Greg Abbott announced he would allow the reopening of all businesses and cancel a long-standing mask warrant. Many school officials, unprepared for Abbott’s decision, chose to continue demanding masks on their campuses and are awaiting new state instruction.

Educators and advocates have called on the state to include teachers as it develops its immunization program this winter and spring. Following Abbott’s announcement Tuesday, several groups of educators punished him for removing the mask requirement without giving teachers priority for vaccines.

“Abbott has shied away from his responsibility to follow medical advice and clarify what needs to happen to keep our schools safe. All top health officials have stressed that even with vaccines, we must continue to use the simplest tools to stop the spread, “Zeph Capo, president of the American Federation of Texas Teachers, said in a statement. Tuesday.

In response to Biden’s proclamation, CVS Pharmacy had already set appointments available for educators, school staff and daycare workers in Texas and other states where it offers vaccines.

CVS is part of the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program, a collaboration between the federal government, states, and pharmacies across the country.

Karen Brooks Harper contributed to this report.