After months of teaching in a high-stress and ever-changing environment, many local teachers and administrators expressed a sense of hopefulness and relief Friday upon receiving their first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Approximately 270 teachers and support staff from Daviess County Public Schools, Owensboro Public Schools and Owensboro Catholic Schools vaccines, which were administered by Walmart health and wellness professionals.
The state appointed Walmart to be the distributor strictly for K-12 educators in the community.
According to OPS Public Information Officer Jared Revlett, the process was overall smooth, effective and efficient.
Vaccines will continue to be administered to local K-12 school staff at the Owensboro High School gym on Saturday and Sunday.
The process will be repeated the same way next weekend, and then twice more in March when the second dose of the vaccine is administered.
“We’ll be able to push through about 270 total today and next Friday, and then 450 per day on Saturday and Sunday (this week and next week) as well,” Revlett said. “By the end of next week, we’ll have everybody who originally signed up to receive the vaccine to have had their first dose.”
Each school system had to submit a list of school employees who’d opted to receive the vaccine to the state before Dec. 20, he said. Though a few people who’d signed up ultimately decided not to get the shot, Revlett said most everyone on the initial list had followed through with getting vaccinated.
“If you signed up and changed your mind, you could pull out. But if you weren’t on the list, it was going to be a lot harder to get on after the fact,” he said. “We’ve had a few here and there who dropped out (for various reasons).”
Revlett said there were also some individuals who were able to receive their first dose of the vaccine by being in a higher-priority category, such as those who are 70 and older. Those individuals freed up some slots for others.
“We’re making sure that every spot that’s available to us is filled with somebody who’s a member of the school staff in one of the three districts,” he added.
Aryn Dauby, a teacher at Owensboro Catholic High School, expressed excitement as she sat in a waiting area after receiving her Moderna vaccine.
“That was probably the least painful shot I’ve ever received,” Dauby said. “I’m so excited to be vaccinated. It makes me feel safer being around my students, and even being around my own family. That sense of security is relieving.”
That sense of security, coupled with the hope for a return to normalcy, was something also expressed by Steven Hall, a business education teacher at Daviess County High School.
“There’s a sense of relief,” Hall said. “Hopefully it’s the first step to getting the kids back in the building full-time. I miss my kids, you know? The virtual and A/B schedule just makes it tough. Especially having a 5-year-old starting kindergarten and seeing how it affects him.”
All three superintendents received their vaccines as well. David Kessler, superintendent of the Diocese of Owensboro, said, “I really want to thank all the local superintendents and their staff for doing such a wonderful job of communication and working diligently to make sure that every educator and staff in our schools will be taken care of if they want to receive their vaccine.”
DCPS Superintendent Matt Robbins expressed gratitude to the families, staff and students of his district for their continued perseverance and cooperation throughout the pandemic.
Robbins said, “Thanks also to our colleagues at our sister school districts, health care professionals and everyone who has worked so hard and done so much to protect the health and safety of our entire community.”
