Maine will open vaccine eligibility for school staff, regardless of age

Maine is opening the eligibility of the COVID-19 vaccine to school officials and childcare providers following a Biden administration directive that has prompted several states to realign their distribution priorities to include educators.

Governor Janet Mills announced on Wednesday that pre-K-12 school staff and childcare providers will be eligible for the vaccine regardless of age, in a departure from the state’s previously announced plans to follow an age-based approach. The news was well received by educators who were frustrated with age-based plans, although the state said the decision to prioritize teachers could slow down the effort to vaccinate those 60 and older if the federal supply of vaccines does not increase.

School staff and licensed child assistants can now access appointments through the federal retail pharmacy program, which includes the Hannaford, Walgreens and Walmart pharmacies in Maine. Other vaccine clinics will also start accepting appointments for school officials and licensed child care workers as soon as they can, the governor’s office said in a press release.

“I share the president’s desire to vaccinate school officials and caregivers as soon as possible, just as I want to see everyone in Maine vaccinated as soon as possible,” Mills said in the statement. “Based on the president’s guideline, we are updating our plan today to qualify school and daycare staff. We will continue to work day and night with our healthcare professionals to apply vaccines to as many arms as possible, as quickly as possible, focusing our efforts on those who are most at risk of dying if they contract the virus ”.

More than 85 percent of COVID deaths in Maine occurred among people aged 70 and over, and 98 percent were over 50, according to CDC statistics.

Maine’s announcement came just days after the state said it would prioritize vaccination based on age. The Maine Education Association rejected these plans in a letter to the governor on Monday, saying that many educators, including young teachers with high-risk medical conditions, were irritated that they were not being prioritized, even with increasing pressure for schools to add more. face-to-face learning.

“After months of advocacy by the MEA and the National Education Association – ongoing phone calls, letters and conversations about the need for a vaccine for all of our educators – MEA and its pre-K-12 members are breathing a collective sigh of relief tonight , ”Maine Education Association President Grace Leavitt said in a statement on Wednesday. The union said it was satisfied that pre-K-12 educators have been heard and will be prioritized, and will continue to advocate that vaccines be made available to those working in higher education.

Maine’s announcement came a day after President Biden asked states to prioritize educators for vaccination and challenged them to administer at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine to all educators and childcare workers by the end of the month. Several states, including Texas, Washington, Massachusetts and Rhode Island, responded with updated plans to prioritize educators. More than 30 states have already made vaccines eligible for some or all teachers by Tuesday.

To determine eligibility, Maine will use a federal definition of school personnel and licensed child care workers that covers employees in pre-primary, primary and secondary schools, Head Start and Early Head Start programs, including teachers, employees and bus drivers and those who work for or are licensed child care providers, including family and center-based care providers.

There are about 36,400 school staff and 16,000 child care providers who will become new eligible for vaccinations under these definitions, in addition to 10,632 school staff over the age of 60 who were already eligible for vaccines under the age-based system.

According to the new federal policy, participants in the federal pharmaceutical retail program are instructed to give access to appointments available exclusively to school employees and day care centers. Appointments already made by people aged 60 or over will not be canceled.

According to the plan released last week, Maine is vaccinating residents aged 60 and over and is scheduled to open vaccines for those aged 50 and over in April, those aged 40 and over in May, and those aged 30 and over. in June. Vaccines are estimated to be open to people aged 29 and under in July.

On Tuesday, however, President Biden said that vaccine production has increased to the point that all eligible adults will have access to the vaccines by the end of May.

In its press release, the Mills administration said the rate of new cases for school staff and students during the 30-day period ending February 26 was 25 per 10,000, almost 70 percent lower than the case rate for the general population. It also acquired 250,000 rapid BinaxNOW antigen tests that it prioritized for schools and childcare providers to expand regular testing and is due to announce information this week on how school employees aged 60 and over can access dedicated vaccine clinics.

Still, Maine was facing pressure to revise its vaccination plans ahead of Wednesday’s announcement. In addition to the union’s request for the state to review its plan and immediately prioritize educators, several school districts have in recent weeks sent resolutions to the governor requesting the prioritization of educators.

On Wednesday, dozens of current and former Maine county and state teachers sent a letter to the governor highlighting the sacrifices educators made to open schools this year and expressing disappointment at the age-based policy announced on Friday.

“Local, state and national conversations are about how schools, and by default, teachers, are one of the most essential pieces of our communities,” said Alison Babb-Brott, sophomore professor at St. George School in Tenants Harbor , Knox County Professor of the Year in 2020 and a charter organizer.

“We have heard countless times that schools are the glue that holds our communities together for our students, our families and our economy. Therefore, if we are being recognized as an essential service, we need to act as an essential service and take action in the midst of a pandemic to protect the team that makes this essential service possible. “

Babb-Brott said Mills’s announcement on Wednesday was a “step in the right direction” and she hopes the state will comply with the Biden government directive that all educators receive at least the first chance by the end of the month. “I am grateful for the recognition and would continue to urge the government to hear the voices of educators across the state,” she said.

The push to vaccinate educators comes at a time when schools in Maine and across the country are also looking at how to add more face-to-face learning for students. The US CDC said that vaccines are not a prerequisite for reopening schools or bringing more people into buildings, but educators said they will increase security and facilitate the transition.

Physical distance requirements and a lack of vaccines for students are still barriers to full-time return, but some teachers say vaccinations will help mitigate quarantine and staff shortages.

“We cannot loosen up on the other safety requirements, but I think a vaccination would be a big step forward in this process for teachers because it will increase safety,” said Cindy Soule, fourth grade teacher at Gerald E. Talbot Community School in Portland and the Professor of the Year in 2020 in Maine. Soule said he had to be quarantined this school year because of exposure to the virus. “If I get vaccinated, if I’m exposed, I don’t have to quarantine and disrupt my students’ learning and make that change,” she said.

This is especially important for students who are not supported at home for distance learning and for families who need to return to normal working hours, she said.

Ann Hanna, director of Talbot, said that vaccines will also help to reduce teacher stress and get schools back to normal.

“It gives teachers an extra layer of protection and reduces the stress everyone feels from being vulnerable to the virus,” said Hanna. “This does not mean that we are going to take off our masks and hug each other again, but it does help to reduce stress and worry that you are being exposed or exposing someone else to this virus.”

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