BEAUMONT, Texas — Little Cypress-Mauriceville Consolidated Independent School District is now the first district in Orange County to offer the COVID-19 vaccine to employees.
The state plans to send 11,000 additional doses of COVID-19 vaccines to southeast Texas, which means several mass vaccine hubs will open next week.
The mass vaccine hubs will be limited to people in phase 1A and phase 1B. So how did teachers in Orange County get to the front of the line Thursday?
Little Cypress Mauriceville CISD found a way to do a vaccine clinic, just for its staff.
Over the last several months, there has been a growing push for educators to be prioritized in vaccine plans. Ultimately, this initiative came down to county leaders' discretion.
After weeks of searching and waiting for the coronavirus vaccines, excitement is radiating throughout Little Cypress Intermediate School, as the district vaccinated its employees.
"We're all happy, a lot of us stayed today after school to get this," Samantha Arrington, Teacher, LCM CISD said.
"It's a personal choice, but having the ability and the access to the vaccine for those who are interested, is a tremendous relief," said Kelly Meadows, Director of Health Service, LCM CISD.
The Hardin County Health Department, which services Orange County as well, allocated vaccines for educators in its distribution plans. That's why teachers like Arrington were able to take advantage of this opportunity.
"We work around a lot of people and we see kids everyday not knowing where they been, they don't know where we been, so just a sense of relief that after the second dose that my chances of getting it will be lower," Arrington said.
On Thursday, the district vaccinated nearly 200 employees. It's a trend that Meadows, hopes will continue across Southeast Texas.
"I encourage other school districts to reach out to their health department and to see if this is something they can set up for their employees. If it helps one individual it well worth all the effort," Meadows said.
An effort that Arrington didn’t think would be possible but hopes others can benefit from.
"Definitely would encourage anyone to get it,” Arrington said. “Do your research and if you think it's the right thing for you, definitely get on the list and get."
Second doses are scheduled for educators within the district on March 4. For those who missed out today, they will have the opportunity to be vaccinated on that day as well.
The district announced Thursday that they have given the first round of the Moderna vaccine to staff members who wanted to take it.
The vaccines were administered by Aurora Concepts, a company the district has worked with in the past for flu shots for staff members.
However, many Texas teachers have yet to receive any doses of the vaccine as the nation continues to face a supply shortage of the vaccine.
Texas' largest teachers association has been advocating for teachers to be given priority access to the coronavirus vaccine.
In mid-December, Gov. Greg Abbott said Texans could see widespread distribution of COVID-19 vaccines by March and that Texas teachers could see the vaccine sooner.
The Texas State Teachers Association has been fighting to get to the top of the vaccine list, since they were classified as essential workers through the pandemic, before any vaccines were approved.
“We're trying to make sure that everyone understands that we want priority for the vaccine because that's going to help us not to lose another educator, student or family member,” TSTA President Ovidia Molina told 12News.
The Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Wednesday said schools can safely reopen even if teachers are not vaccinated for COVID-19, despite teachers being prioritized as “essential workers” under the CDC’s vaccination plans.
