East Bay teachers and school workers will get first dibs when it comes to the COVID-19 vaccine here at the Oakland Coliseum FEMA site. It’s the latest move on behalf of the state to push schools to reopen classrooms for younger children first.
“My kindergartner won’t usually sit by himself for Zooms so that requires a parent being there,” said Oakland mother Megan Bacigalupi.
Her boys, ages 5 and 8, attend the same elementary school and are counting down the days until they can get past that locked fence.
“I hope that all teachers will take advantage of the opportunity to get vaccinated,” said Bacigalupi.
Last month, Governor Gavin Newsom announced the state is releasing 75,000 vaccines every week strictly for teachers and other education workers.
In Oakland, the Coliseum site is dedicating the next two days to vaccinate anyone who works in a school building.
NBC BAy Area reached out to the Oakland Unified School District to find out if they’re keeping track of how many teachers are getting vaccinated and a district spokesperson says they are not tracing that information and they are not requiring teachers to get vaccinated.
The district and the teachers union are still negotiating the details of a reopening plan. The president of the Oakland Teachers Association says the union is in the process of tracking down how many teachers have been vaccinated.
“I hope that our district and our teachers union are bargaining feverishly to reach a deal, we are about to hit the one year mark of them being out of their classrooms and I think that’s a real travesty,” said Bacigalupi.
Over at the West Contra Costa Unified School District, a spokesperson says they are working on tracking down how many teachers will be vaccinated and are helping staff secure appointments.
The district’s director of communications says, “We are not requiring vaccinations. We anticipate most staff will get vaccinated.”
Source: NBC Bay Area
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