Vaccinations open for educators, school personnel

Delaware’s COVID-19 vaccination effort expanded to educators, school staff, and child care workers March 5 in answer to President Joe Biden’s commitment to vaccinate school personnel with at least one dose by the end of March.

Large vaccination events will be held Saturday, March 13, and Sunday, March 14, at Dover International Speedway for educators, school staff, and child care workers. Officials said invitations will be sent early next week by the Delaware Department of Education.

Through a partnership between the federal government and Walgreens pharmacies, educators, school staff and child care workers can also sign up for appointments at Walgreens to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Officials said Walgreens will pause new vaccination appointments for other eligible populations in order to vaccinate school personnel.

Educators, school staff and child care workers can visit Walgreens.com for an appointment. Due to supply constraints, there are limited appointments currently available. Several thousand appointments will be available starting next week, as Walgreens receives additional supply from the federal government. Educators, school staff, and child care workers will be notified when these additional appointments become available.

The Delaware Department of Education, in partnership with Albertsons Pharmacy, already has vaccinated more than 5,500 educators and school staff, or roughly a third of those who expressed interest in vaccination, and more than half of the 5,500 are fully vaccinated. More than 2,200 Delaware child care workers have also received at least their first shot of the COVID-19 vaccine. DDOE will continue to host regular K-12 and child care vaccination events and notify educators as additional appointments become available at Walgreens. 

Also on March 5, the state began shipping doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to poultry companies to vaccinate vulnerable workers. So far, 253,535 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been administered across the state.

“We are building on our ongoing efforts to prioritize vaccinations for educators, school staff and child care workers across our state who have stepped up throughout this COVID-19 crisis,” said Gov. John Carney in a press release. “Our goal remains the same. We want to distribute this lifesaving vaccine in a way that's fast and fair.”

DDOE, through its partnership with Albertsons Pharmacy, has coordinated the vaccination of education personnel and child care providers since late January. More than 16,000 educators and school personnel requested vaccination through DDOE. Roughly 4,000 child care providers also requested vaccination.

Delaware is currently in Phase 1B of its COVID-19 vaccination program. Visit de.gov/covidvaccine to learn more.