Teacher COVID-19 vaccines in Lexington could begin in January, open school doors

Depending on when coronavirus vaccines arrive in Fayette County, school district employees could have access to the shots as early as January, district officials told staff Thursday.

The vaccine will give the school district “a path” to return to in-person learning for the first time since the pandemic began in March, said a district email to employees.

Earlier this week, district officials said they won’t return to in-person instruction before Jan. 11.

“Governor Andy Beshear has made educators a priority in receiving the COVID-19 vaccine,” said the email that asked employees to indicate whether they wanted the vaccine.

If they choose “yes,” a vaccine would be ordered for them, although they can decline it later.

If they say “no” to the vaccine, they would not be able to change their minds. They would have to wait and get the vaccine when it’s available to the general public. If they don’t answer the survey, a vaccine would not be ordered for them.

“I hope that our staff will consider taking it, they should always consult with their doctor if they have questions. I plan to take it myself when it is available to me,” Jessica Hiler, president of the Fayette County Education Association, an educators’ group said Friday.

Following the state’s Healthy at School Guidelines and “the direction of our local health officials will determine when it is safe for our staff and students to return to in-person learning,” Hiler said.

Declining the vaccination does not automatically exempt staff from reporting to work.

In early January, the district hopes to have details about the vaccine’s availability to help determine a timeline for returning to in-person learning. Fayette schools have not allowed widespread in-person instruction, opting instead for virtual learning. That has been a controversial decision for some families and teachers.

When Beshear has allowed it, some other public and private schools have returned to full in-person learning or a hybrid model, but not Fayette. Only a few thousand of the district’s more than 40,000 students were offered two-hour instruction for a few weeks.

“Your health and safety has been central to our decisions over these past months,” the email to teachers said.

“There is nothing we want more than to have students back in our classrooms, but we have to do it safely. The vaccine has given us a path to do this,” the email said.

The school district must provide to the state by Dec. 30 a roster of employees that wish to get vaccinated.

On a webcast Tuesday, Kentucky Department of Education officials directed school districts to create and submit rosters of employees interested in receiving the vaccine, Fayette district spokeswoman Lisa Deffendall said.

According to information from the state, Deffendall said, “all district employees will be eligible for vaccination; contractors who don’t have direct contact with students are not eligible. Only those on the roster will be eligible for vaccination during the educator distribution period due to the limited availability of the vaccine.”

Since many Fayette schools employees will begin winter break on Monday, the district sent an email to all staff Thursday asking them to log into a secure web portal and indicate their vaccine preference, Deffendall said.

This story was originally published December 18, 2020 at 7:47 AM.