HOUSTON COUNTY, Ga. — The Houston County School District is preparing to vaccinate teachers against COVID-19, with a goal of being done before the start of spring break.
According to Superintendent Mark Scott, the district is working with Houston Healthcare and the Houston County Health Department to vaccinate non-school based and on campus employees.
Non-school based employees, like bus drivers, will start receiving their shots by appointment at the health department starting Monday, March 8, when Phase 1A+ eligibility expands. The health department is offering the Moderna vaccine.
As for teachers and employees inside school buildings, the district is working with Houston Healthcare to administer shots at the schools so teachers won’t have to leave the building.
Scott says they’re tentatively planning to start next week. They’d like to give the Johnson & Johnson single-dose shot, however, he says they will move forward with the two-dose Pfizer vaccine if the single-dose shots don’t arrive on time.
An exact date for the in-school vaccinations isn’t available yet, but it will be during this upcoming week (March 8-12).
They’ll be able to vaccinate 30 teachers an hour inside the schools, and some schools will finish faster because of the number of employees.
The end goal is to vaccinate teachers by March 26, the last day of school before the start of spring break.
Scott says around 62% of Houston County Schools employees responded to a survey saying they wanted the vaccine – which is roughly 2,500 out of the 4,000 total.
Teachers can still try and make an appointment on their own without the school, although it may take longer and will be more difficult for the school system to track.
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