All Miami-Dade County Public Schools
(M-DCPS) teachers and staff, of any
age, including custodians, cafeteria staff and bus drivers, in Pre-K through12
schools and childcare programs, will now be able to receive a COVID-19
vaccination. This is welcome news for the District, which has been advocating since
December for the prioritization of the vaccine for employees, particularly
those with direct contact with students.
Earlier this week, the Biden
administration released the updated Federal Retail Pharmacy Program guidelines prioritizing
COVID-19 vaccines for Pre-K through 12 school staff and childcare workers.
The Federal
Retail Pharmacy Program for COVID-19 Vaccination is a collaboration between the
federal government, states and territories, and 21 national pharmacy partners, including
CVS, Publix, Walmart and Walgreens, and independent pharmacy networks to increase
access to COVID-19 vaccination across the U.S. The federal program will
prioritize vaccinating all school staff and childcare workers, with no age
restrictions, during the month of March.
Employees
may schedule an appointment by logging onto Vaccines & Immunizations
| Vaccine Schedule | CVS Pharmacy.
It is expected that this list of providers will continue to be
expanded. As such, employees are encouraged to visit the state’s vaccine
locator site at https://floridahealthcovid19.gov/vaccines/vaccine-locator/ for the latest information on available
vaccine providers. To
verify employment and age, M-DCPS personnel must bring their worksite/school ID
and their driver’s license to the appointment.
All M-DCPS employees, regardless of age,
can also obtain a vaccine at South Florida’s first federal vaccination site, which
opened this week at Miami Dade College North Campus. The site is open seven days a week from 7:00 a.m. to
7:00 p.m. Walk-ins are accepted, and appointments are not required.
These
broader federal guidelines came on the heels of an Executive Order issued by Gov. Ron DeSantis this week expanding
COVID-19 vaccinations for K-12 employees ages 50 and older. In adherence with this
Order, this weekend, Jackson Health System will be administering 1,000 vaccines
at three Jackson sites to M-DCPS employees ages 50 and older. One thousand
employees have already been vaccinated as part of the District’s ongoing
partnership with Jackson. This latest announcement expands the collective
effort with Jackson to stop the spread of COVID-19 in our community. Future
vaccination events will be scheduled.
M-DCPS
will continue to explore additional opportunities for the continued expansion
of the vaccine administration program for our employees.
For the most up-to-date information,
please download the Dadeschools mobile app to your iPhone or Android
device. Follow us on Twitter @mdcps
and @miamisup, on Instagram @miamischools
and @miamisup, and on Facebook at MiamiSchools
and AlbertoCarvalho.
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