REYKDAL: Washington is Ready to Vaccinate School Employees

Today, the Biden Administration announced their plan to vaccinate K–12 school employees as quickly as possible – with the goal of all employees vaccinated by the end of the month. Below is Superintendent Reykdal’s statement.

OLYMPIA–March 2, 2021–Today, President Biden announced that he expects all K–12 school employees to receive at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of March.

Currently, about 36% of Washington students are receiving some or all of their learning in-person. We expect this priority on vaccinations for school employees will speed up the timeline for many districts who are working to begin or expand in-person learning.

We continue to work with Kaiser Permanente and we are pleased our ‘Get Ready’ plan will be ready to move forward. Local partnerships in other areas of the state have already been established. Between Kaiser Permanente, local partnerships, and the Biden Administration’s push for vaccines through the Federal Pharmacy Program, school employees in every region of the state will have access to at least one dose of the vaccine this month.

The data and research show that if schools follow all health and safety requirements, they can safely reopen without widespread vaccination within the school community. However, like President Biden, we know vaccination of school employees is an additional layer of protection that will provide comfort to staff, students, and families.

We are working with the Department of Health and the Governor’s Office to learn more details about President Biden’s announcement. I appreciate the leadership of the President, Governor, and Department of Health in supporting our schools as they work to safely reopen for in-person learning as quickly as possible.

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ALL STUDENTS PREPARED FOR POST-SECONDARY PATHWAYS, CAREERS, AND CIVIC ENGAGEMENT.

Led by State Superintendent Chris Reykdal, OSPI oversees K-12 public education in Washington state. Our mission is to provide funding, resources, tools, data and technical assistance that enable educators to ensure students succeed in our public schools, are prepared to access post-secondary training and education, and are equipped to thrive in their careers and lives.