Raleigh, NC – About 400 teachers, school staff and childcare workers received their first coronavirus vaccination in Wake County on Wednesday, the first day educators were eligible in the state.
“I was surprised I was chosen so quickly,” said Jennifer Hyatt, an elementary school teacher. “I feel like I can breathe, you know, a sigh of relief, because it’s been a long year.”
Just a few days ago, it seems that educators should wait a while behind the tens of thousands of health workers and people aged 65 and over who have already registered for vaccinations. But after Wake County officials examined the list and removed those who had signed up several times and others who had already been shot elsewhere, only about 100 names remained, allowing teachers to line up.
About 12,500 educators have already registered for shootings in Wake County, and about 3,000 of them have scheduled appointments, officials said.
“I think we’re really making a corner of our ability to keep up with the flow of people who need it,” said Matt Calabria, chairman of the Wake County Board of Commissioners. “We will be able to move very quickly among educators and make sure they are vaccinated so that they can return to class and feel more comfortable when they are there.”
Tawana Francis, a preschool teacher, said he protects his 3-year-old students and their families by getting vaccinated.
“I feel like I’m doing my part to get back to some kind of normalcy,” Francis said.
He has already contracted coronavirus and said he does not want to risk getting sick again.
“When you are a certain age and have underlying conditions because I am diabetic, I was hoping every day and I pray that I feel good because when you hear that the numbers are still growing, you worry,” she said.
Keith Sutton, chairman of the Wake County Education Committee, said it would take some time to vaccinate as many of the school district’s 11,000 teachers and another 9,000 school workers as possible.
“It will take some time, and that’s primarily due to the size of Wake County and the supply,” Sutton said.
As for Hyatt, her mother is 85 years old, and the pandemic has kept them away.
“I’ll be able to see my mother soon,” she said. “I will be more relaxed when I see her. It will be great. ”