Teacher vaccinations no longer a sticking point to get Medina County children back to school

MEDINA, Ohio – In an effort to fully open in-person classrooms, the governor’s office, superintendents from all schools in Medina County, the Medina County Department of Health and Discount Drug Mart have collaborated to organize a one-day COVID-19 vaccination clinic for all county educators and school staff.

All schools in the county were closed Thursday (February 4) to allow 1,800 teachers and staff to receive Pfizer vaccinations at Medina High School. Another 1,500 were vaccinated at Brunswick High School.

Dr Robert Hlasko, superintendent of the Medina County Educational Services Center, explained that Medina County was among the first in the state to receive the vaccinations. He attributed this fact to weekly meetings county superintendents have held with the Department of Health since the outbreak of the pandemic last spring.

Through this collaboration, the county was able to assure the governor’s office that it had a plan and was ready to implement it as soon as vaccines were available.

Discount Drug Mart provided the platform for educators to register and schedule vaccines. Earlier this week, eligible educators received a planning link for the clinic, which opened at 7 a.m. and until 5 p.m.

Jason Briscoe, director of pharmaceutical operations for Discount Drug Mart, said the company’s 76 pharmacies in Ohio have administered 30,000 COVID-19 vaccines to age-eligible citizens in the past 14 days.

He mentioned that the pharmacists who gave the injections at Medina High School came from pharmacies in the area and had probably worked 12 hours a day on Wednesday before coming to the clinic on Thursday.

Medina City Schools Superintendent Aaron Sable spoke of the difficulty in staffing schools during the pandemic. Sable said the biggest challenge has been to quarantine students and staff who have been exposed to the coronavirus.

He spoke wryly of his inexperience: “This is my first pandemic and my first vaccination clinic.”

He said that although 80% of school workers are now protected by the vaccine, and even though there has been little or no spread of the virus in schools, the district will continue with strict protocols, including safe social distancing and the wearing of masks.

Staff members who arrived at Medina High School for their vaccinations were directed to the gymnasium, where they were checked in and assigned to one of the many pharmacists who administered the vaccine.

A pharmacist estimated he was giving an injection every three minutes.

After each person received their vaccine, they moved to the upper part of the gym, where they sat for 15 minutes before being excused. This was to monitor any reaction to the vaccination.

Due to HIPAA restrictions and for the benefit of the media, Melanie Condosta, a physical education teacher at AI Root Middle School, volunteered to be vaccinated in a separate classroom. Pharmacist Megan Levitt of the Cuyahoga Falls Pharmacy administered the vaccine.

“The shot didn’t hurt at all,” Condosta said. “This pandemic has been severe; it was an emotional roller coaster. I think everyone is happy to be back to school.

Schools in the county will again be closed for a day – after about 27 days – so that the second vaccine in the Pfizer series can be administered. Since previous recipients have reported mild side effects from the second dose of Pfizer, the vaccine will likely be given on a Friday to allow staff members to rest over the weekend.

Consider the benefits of this immunization day: I hope none of the school’s 3,300 employees contract COVID-19. In a ripple effect, none of these people will infect others with the virus, none will be hospitalized, students will be allowed to return to classrooms with their friends, parents will return to work – and the life may start to look like it was before the pandemic. normality for families in Medina County.

Learn more about the Medina Sun..