Illinois Opens Up Vaccine Roll-Out For Educators, But Metro East Teachers Say It’s A Scramble To Find Appointments

CBS St. Louis

January 28, 2021

For Erin Raby, a teacher’s assistant at the O’Fallon School District, the vaccine would make her feel more comfortable in the classroom, which is why there was a sense of relief when the Illinois Health Department announced they were moving into Phase 1B this week which includes teachers.
“The emails started flying. Where we could go? What we needed to do to get signed up,” said Raby.
Raby was able to make an appointment at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital for Tuesday but when she showed up, she was turned away, told there had been a mistake. “He was very polite and explained we were not eligible yet to get it and that I would be notified,” she said. In a statement sent to News 4, a spokesperson for St. Elizabeth’s Hospital said only seniors are eligible at this time as St. Clair County is prioritizing those 75+. Through the HSHS online scheduling process, an email intended for a senior citizen to schedule an appointment was forwarded to people who were not in the invited age group. Therefore, some people who did not meet the outlined age guidelines made appointments, and officials have been working on canceling those appointments since we do not have enough vaccines for them at this time. Raby says she’s signed up in four other places, but no luck so far. “We don't know where to go, what to do. There’s a lot of rumors," she said. Rob Werden is the regional superintendent for Madison County. He said he understands the frustration from his educators. Around 5,000 have said they want the vaccine. “At the end of the day if we don't have the vaccines then it’s going to be a slow process,” said Werden. Adding vaccine supply county-wide and statewide remain low. But Werden says the plan at the moment is to hold a mass vaccination event for teachers on February 13 at the Gateway Center in Collinsville, with additional events the following Saturdays. If vaccine supply allows, they have additional locations they can add. In St. Clair County, Herb Simmons with the Emergency Management Operations said at this point they don’t have a similar plan. But the Belleville School District Superintendent says they are in close contact with St. Clair County Health Department and have offered their sites as well as school nurses to help facilitate a mass vaccination event when vaccine supply becomes available. Meanwhile across the river in Missouri, teachers still need to wait their turn. Teachers fall under Tier 3 of Missouri’s Phase 1B. Currently, there is no timeline on when we might get there but at the moment there are around 3.2 million Missourians in the open tiers. That’s a concern for the head of the St. Louis teacher’s union. “Our folks are heroes. They’re in the front line of this pandemic. This is an emotional issue for us because they deserve to be somewhere in the front lines for this vaccine,” said Byron Clemens, AFT St. Louis.