Beshear to KY superintendents: Prepare rosters of teachers willing to get vaccines.

Gov. Andy Beshear on Friday asked Kentucky’s superintendents to begin preparing rosters of school personnel who are willing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, according to the state Education Department.

While Beshear is unsure when educators will begin receiving the vaccine, he asked superintendents to plan for the distribution of COVID-19 vaccines to the state’s education community.

Although the vaccines are distributed at the federal level, states direct where they need to go.

Beshear expects the Pfizer two-dose vaccine to become available by Dec. 15 and anticipates Kentucky receiving 38,000 doses in the first round of distribution. The initial doses will go to healthcare providers and nursing home residents and staff, but there won’t be enough to vaccinate all of them, according to the state.

Two weeks later, the state will receive the shipment of the Moderna vaccinations, which is twice as many as the first Pfizer delivery, Beshear said. After healthcare providers and residents and staff at long-term care facilities, Kentucky will prioritize emergency medical service workers and educators.

“That recognizes the exposure (to the virus) that educators have within the building,” Beshear said. “But it also recognizes the absolute, critical importance of what they do and how much better in-person classes are.”

Since the goal is to make schools as safe as possible, Beshear said all school staff who are willing to be vaccinated should be included on the rosters. Since it is unlikely that one shipment of vaccines will cover everyone within a school, districts should consider prioritizing those more likely to be exposured to the virus, Beshear said.

“This is great news,” said Education Commissioner Jason E. Glass. “It’s exciting to think about the beginning of the end of what has been a really difficult period for all of us.”

The Kentucky Department of Education website said there are 42,024 teachers in Kentucky. There are another 8,824 certified staff members, minus teachers. There are 46,455 “classified” employees, including custodians and aides, as well as staff working in transportation and food service.

The Kentucky Department of Education anticipates collaborating with the Kentucky Department for Public Health and the governor’s office to provide additional vaccine distribution guidance before winter breaks.

Schools have been under pressure to restart in-person classes, but a surge in virus infections continues.

As of Friday night, there were 3,614 new COVID-19 cases and 25 new deaths, according to Beshear’s office.

According to Beshear’s executive order that temporarily suspended in-person instruction effective Nov. 23, grades K-5 are allowed to reopen classrooms to students beginning Dec. 7. However, those schools must follow all the safety expectations and cannot be in a county where the spread of COVID-19 puts it in the critical red category.

As of Friday, the seven counties that are not in the red are Adair, Breathitt, Breckinridge, Crittenden, Green, Nicholas and Russell.

Meanwhile, Beshear is now fighting more opponents to the school closings that included faith-based institutions. On Friday, U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, Sen. Rand Paul, both of Kentucky, and 36 of their fellow Republican Senators announced they are submitting a brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in support of state Attorney General Daniel Cameron’s “religious liberty lawsuit.” Danville Christian Academy and other private schools have sued Beshear and are, with Cameron’s help, challenging Beshear’s order that schools in counties with a high number of cases stay closed.

Beshear responded Friday in the U.S. Supreme Court to Cameron’s effort to open the schools, saying that every school is treated equally.

“Kentucky is in the midst of a deadly third wave of the coronavirus. We have taken the necessary actions to slow the growth in cases and save the lives of our fellow Kentuckians,” Beshear said after filing his brief. “In the most recent executive order regarding schools, every school is treated equally, and each is asked to do its part over a limited period of time to slow the spread of the virus. The effectiveness of these actions requires everyone to take part, and anyone or any entity that tries to be the exception lessens the effectiveness of the steps.

This story was originally published December 4, 2020 at 6:47 PM.