Vaccination Frustration: While some students have received the COVID-19 vaccine, many teachers await their first dose

East students who work or volunteer in the medical field have already qualified to receive the COVID-19 vaccine through Phase 1a of the distribution phases recommended by the Center for Disease Control (CDC), and teachers follow closely with eligibility for vaccination in Phase 1b. 

Though the COVID-19 vaccine supply across the country is increasing, doses are still limited. The designated vaccine distribution phases are strictly enforced to ensure the most vulnerable of the population is safe first.

The CDC’s Phase 1a dedicated to vaccinating all healthcare workers is almost complete, while Phase 1b is starting, which gives vaccines to people aged 75 and older and essential workers such as firefighters, police, grocery store workers, teachers and others. 

Senior Lilli Smith qualified for Phase 1a of the vaccine distribution as an intern at Mission MedVet, an emergency veterinary hospital, through the medical science program at the Center of Academic Achievement. After getting the first dose on Jan. 21 and being scheduled for her second dose on Feb. 12, Smith now feels less anxious working in a close and enclosed environment with her co-workers.

“One of the main things that I do there is help just like hold animals for ultrasounds or things like that,” Smith said. “So you can imagine two people holding one dog, there’s not enough room to socially distance really.”

Because Mission MedVet is an emergency hospital, they have to remain open through COVID-19 outbreaks within the clinic, leaving employees, including Smith, at higher risk of contracting the virus. 

“My family was pretty worried,” Smith said. “But I have the whole upstairs in my house, basically, [and] try and stay up there as much as possible. And we would even try and social distance inside of our house, but it was still nerve racking.”

Similar to Smith, senior Ellie Peters volunteers in the gift shop at Children’s Mercy Hospital, bringing giant balloon bouquets to sick patients and giving directions to family members looking for the cafeteria. Since she’s often exposed to patients, Peters was eligible for the vaccine and received her second dose on Jan. 27.

“I didn’t think twice about it when I was asked to come back [to Children’s Mercy in the fall after summer volunteering was canceled],” Peters said. “I knew I needed [to come back] and I wanted really bad to get back to helping people, especially in this time, but it definitely did cross my mind that when I’m walking and delivering a gift on the respiratory unit that any of these people could have COVID in their room.”

The Pfizer-Biontech COVID-19 vaccine is approved by the FDA for ages 16 and older. However, teenagers without previous medical risks in Kansas are not scheduled to receive the vaccine until Phase 5, which is anticipated to start in June.  

According to the Johnson County Department of Health and Environment (JCDHE), PK-12 staff members of Johnson County School Districts are scheduled to get their vaccines starting in waves on Feb. 4-5, beginning with the highest-risk employees. The county has received 6,000 vaccinations, 1,800 of which will be devoted to the first week of school staff appointments.

“I really feel for the teachers right now,” East school nurse Stephanie Ptacek said. “I’m really hoping that they all get vaccinated, because they get a lot of potential exposures with being in class with so many kids. There’s a lot of unknowns with the virus, especially with the new, potentially more contagious version.”

Private school St. Paul’s Episcopal Day School in the Kansas City area has already started signing their teachers up for vaccination appointments at Truman Medical Center, due to a misperception of the Truman Medical Center’s Phase 1b tiers, which differ slightly from the CDC’s recommendations. Truman won’t distribute vaccines to teachers until after all 65-year-olds and up have received them. 

There was also misunderstanding between healthcare workers at Truman. Third grade St. Paul’s teacher Melissa Harper was one of few teachers that was able to get her vaccine on the appointment day, Jan. 26. 

“Honestly, I think that there was a lack of communication between some nurses and some people letting you in [at Truman], and so I think it was just like a luck of the draw,” Harper said. “One of our teachers who did get the vaccine was turned away originally, came back and then he was let in by another nurse.” 

Harper explains that of the ten school employees that were scheduled to receive their vaccines that Tuesday, only three left with Band-Aids on their arms, getting in and out of the building in half an hour tops. The others were told it wasn’t their turn.

“It was just frustrating, obviously, because you get substitutes to cover your class, and you kind of make plans to go and do this, and when it doesn’t happen, it’s frustrating,” Harper said.

The next CDC distribution phase — Phase 1c — is designated for people ages 65-74, ages 16-64 with medical risks and essential workers, including public safety, food service and transportation workers. 

“We’re trying to get to herd immunity so that we can get back to the things that we all all want to do, which is hang out without wearing masks and go to concerts and eat out,” Ptacek said. 

On Jan. 20, President Biden announced the American Rescue Plan, which was created with the purpose of getting back to “normal life,” with the hope of K-8 schools safely reopening in his first 100 days of office and helping small businesses struggling after the hit of COVID-19. 

“The vaccine is the biggest step to getting back to normal life,” Peters said. “And so I think what’s most important is that people realize vaccination is what’s going to get us there.”