ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. — During a nationwide push to open schools, Florida teachers say they don't believe schools are safe until they can get a vaccine.
What You Need To Know
- CDC guidance says teachers do not need to be vacinated before schools reopen
- Central Florida educators say that only works if safety practices are followed 100% of the time
- They say the problem is, procedures are not always followed
This week the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director announced schools can operate safely in person without them.
"And that safe reopening does not suggest that teachers need to be vaccinated," the agency's director Dr. Rochelle Walensky said.
But Central Florida teachers Spectrum News 13 spoke to said the CDC’s recommendations for school safety practices are great, and if all of those were followed they wouldn’t have an issue waiting to get the vaccine.
The problem is those safety measures aren’t always followed.
Orange County High School teacher Matthew Panzano says he and other teachers he knows want the vaccine as soon as possible not only for their safety, but for that of their family.
He says he knows of colleagues who are desperate, spending hours waiting outside the Orange County Convention center just to see if the county site had any leftover vaccines.
"And people don't do that unless they are really driven towards a cause, and that cause at this point, is fear for safety," Panzano said.
And while the majority of Florida’s schools have been providing in person learning, Panzano says the CDC’s assessment does not reflect reality.
“The idea is fine, but the reality is not what we need it to be, and yes I think that they’re saying that based on the fact that teachers have been brave enough to go back into the classroom as it is, without the vaccine, because we don’t have the option to get the vaccine,” Panzano said.
Panzano says he hopes officials won’t continue to take advantage of the courage of teachers in assuming they don’t need to be vaccinated right away.
The CDC has recommended that teachers be included in the very next group who gets the vaccine, designating them as frontline workers.
But so far Gov. Ron DeSantis has yet to heed the calls from Central Florida school districts and teachers unions, to prioritize them for the shot.
He said in a recent press conference that teachers are a “priority” but not a “top priority.”
“I would give them the grade of an F if they submitted their responses as a report in my class,” Panzano said in response.
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February 05, 2021 at 10:23AM
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Florida Teachers Want the Vaccine Before Schools Reopen - News 13 Orlando
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