MACON, Ga. — The Bibb County School District is making it even easier for their students and staff members to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
They will begin setting up vaccine clinics at various schools throughout the day.
Starting later in September, vaccine clinics will be held during the school day at all Bibb County middle and high schools.
This is all a part of their effort to get as many people in Macon vaccinated as soon as possible.
Grant Bray has taught social studies at Howard High School since 2015, and says the pandemic has made this past year-and-a-half difficult.
"It's been hard to get into a rhythm with the kids. With the kids being in school and with kids being out of school, it's harder to get to know the kids," Bray said.
Although he says he's never experienced a school year like this past one, he thinks the Bibb County School District has made it easier for students and staff to adjust.
"A positive is that the support and tools that the kids have. Our kids have access to laptops, when they work from home, they have access to hotspots," Bray said.
Soon, they will have access to the COVID-19 vaccine, right in their own schools.
"This is a coordinated effort with the Macon-Bibb County Health Department. They will be offering the Pfizer vaccine in all of our middle schools and high schools," David Gowan, the district's Director of Safety and Security, said.
Gowan says vaccine clinics will be held during the school day...
All staff members, students 12 years old and up who received parental consent, and community members can get the vaccine.
"In Macon-Bibb County, the vaccination rate is a little less than 40 percent, so anything we can do we can as a school district to help drive that number up, we're willing to do that," Gowan said.
Bray says the vaccine clinics along with all of the other safety measures the district has implemented are a step in the right direction.
"We can only move forward. If that's the worst thing that happens is kids and staff members being vaccinated, then that's a good thing," Bray said.
"We have the ionization process, our HVAC systems that kill the COVID virus in the air, we wear masks in the schools, practice social distancing -- this is just another measure in our toolbox to provide some protection for our students," Gowan said.
Gowan says he suggested that Bibb County elementary schools hold after-school vaccine clinics so that parents who were not available during the school day, students, and community members can come get the vaccine.