New push to vaccinate educators against coronavirus

Two vaccination clinics in Seattle and Shoreline were designed to vaccinate those who have, until now, been essentially left behind: teachers and other educators.

A steady stream of mostly educators showed up at a University of Washington Medicine clinic in Shoreline on Sunday, eager to put COVID-19 behind them.

They lined up inside this Shoreline clinic, poised to take a giant step toward seeing their young charges in person again.

“A little anxious,” said James Warren, a special education instructional assistant for Seattle Public Schools.

He could have been talking about the vaccination, as well as the last year he helped teach remotely.

“You really want some kind of physical interaction with the kids you work with,” said Warren.

“It actually has been more effective than I expected,” said Dennis Caulley, of remote learning. “At the same time, it’s not as good as being next to the kids.”

Both instructional assistants, Caulley, in the Lake Washington School District, and Warren, in Seattle, came here to Shoreline to get their first shot at a return to normal.

As an African American, Warren concedes he initially hesitated.

“But you know, I trust in the science,” he said. “Believe in family members who have been vaccinated, you know. So that was a help.”

“We are celebrating lifesaving COVID-19 vaccinations for our Seattle valued teachers, school staff and child care workers,” said Dwane Chappelle, the director of the Seattle Department of Education and Early Learning.

He was speaking more than 20 miles to the south in Seattle, where hundreds more educators got their COVID-19 vaccinations too.

“Less stress,” said Martha Russell, a Holy Family Catholic School teacher. “Can be with the kids. So everyone, I think, at our school has pretty much been vaccinated. So we’re super excited.”

Both clinics came together quickly.

The vaccine was spirited to Shoreline by Airlift Northwest from a facility in eastern Washington. Then a decision was made to focus mainly on educators.

“I’m excited as a parent and also as a provider you know, a working parent, that there’s hope that our kids can go back to school,” said Pranika Laing, interim associate administrator at UW Medicine.

So now another 1,800 educators who work with the youngest of us have got their COVID-19 vaccine. And 1,000 of them won’t have to take a second shot because they got the vaccine produced by Johnson & Johnson.

Cox Media Group