Missouri teachers continue waiting for coronavirus vaccine while 28 other states move forward
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
School teachers and staff are allowed to receive coronavirus vaccine shots in at least 28 states plus and Washington DC as of Thursday. However, Missouri is not one of them.
President Joe Biden said during a CNN town hall on Tuesday that teachers should be moved up on the list of those getting vaccinated.
On Feb. 10, the previous five Missouri Teachers of the Year wrote a letter to state health officials on behalf of public educators. The letter asked for the health department to "prioritize Missouri school teachers and support staff for immediate vaccination." They included that multiple states bordering Missouri are vaccinating educators.
Todd Fuller with the Missouri State Teachers Association said the state is lagging behind in teacher vaccinations.
"When we look at all of the states around us and realize every state except for Oklahoma has already started the process of vaccinating teachers, and in some cases, they are close to finishing vaccinating teachers, it's hard to comprehend why Missouri is still struggling to get to that point," Fuller said.
Illinois is one of those vaccinating their teachers and staff. The state's public health department said it recognizes the importance if in-person learning, which they hope to move towards through vaccinations.
Chicago Public Schools said last week it will offer 1,500 vaccinations for employees each week.
Kathy Steinhoff, president of Columbia Missouri National Educators Association, said the school board is interested in moving all Columbia Public Schools back to in-person learning five days a week once teachers are vaccinated.
Fuller said there is hope to get back to normalcy at least for the remainder of the current school year. He added the state board of education was told that teacher vaccinations may not start until late April. Fuller said at that point there will only be four-six weeks left in the school year.
Steinhoff said there is only so much that a teacher can do if they have a large class size in a room that is relatively small.
"There are so many times at the elementary level in particular that students are unmasked and together," Steinhoff said.
There are still some school districts in Missouri that are still learning online or have a hybrid learning model, Fuller said.
"The teachers would rather be teaching in person with their students, but they need to feel safe first," Fuller said.
The CPS 14-day COVID-19 rate said cases have drastically decreased since students returned to in-person and hybrid learning modules last month.
On Jan. 19, there were 90 new cases and the 14-day rate was reported at 74.9. As of Wednesday, there were 20 new cases and the rate was down to 22.7.
The CPS website said 28 staff members were on leave because of COVID-19 across the district.
