Anonymous wrote:I am so sick of having to explain this to people.

Here goes, again.

Many elderly people cannot self isolate. This goes beyond people living in nursing homes. Many old people are at home, but have caregivers coming in and out of their house. Many need to go to doctors appointments or are likely to wind up in hospitals where they could catch covid.

My parents have stayed at home since March except for a handful of doctors appointments. They literally have not left their house or yard. They have not seen any friends. They have only seen family outside and masked. My father got covid in mid January from a caregiver. Had he been vaccinated, perhaps he would not have gotten it.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did Howard vaccinate all its teachers?

Nope. I live in Howard County. The teachers are in phase 1B, which means they are now eligible, but it is almost impossible to find places that both have open appointments and have supply. I have one friend who is a teacher married to a teacher. She spent her day off checking various places refreshing every 20-30 minutes or so. In the late afternoon, a friend passed her a new link and she managed to find one cancellation, but had to literally head out the door within a few minutes to make it there for the last-minute cancellation. She got home and checked the link and she found one more last minute cancellation and made her husband drop what he was doing and head over and grab the vaccination. And she had been checking daily since the 18th multiple times per day.

On her post, there were over a dozen other teachers saying that they were still trying to find a place to get a vaccination. I know teachers in 5 counties and the city of Baltimore and despite them being phase 1B, less than 10% of them have actually been able to find a vaccination. Hopefully February will get better, but right now, so many of the shots are going to hospitals who are prioritizing their high risk patients over others. The places that are open for the general public 1A/1B eligible cannot handle the volume of requests they are getting. They are essentially down to administering the tests that they get within a day or two of when they get them and then waiting for the next shipment.

You state this as if teachers are somehow special. Everyone in 1B are struggling to find vaccines. Most are already back to work without being vaccinated or the elderly who are at a much higher risk of death from Covid19 than a teacher who may be in their 30s to late 50s. Somehow, all of those essential workers who are unvaccinated got up every morning for work from March until now and went - to work.

I realize it’s a tough situation but it’s in now way a slight against teachers or something that should be addressed of “fixed”. If they are boosted up in priority as a group, it directly impacts those working now at great risk for catching covid or worse, the elderly who may die at a faster rate.

We all need to wear our masks, wash our hands and wait for our turn in line for a vaccine. Group 1b IS a prioritized group.

And tell Hogan that the supply of vaccine and the rollout stinks. Don’t complain that no one has offered to not make you return to work or somehow vaccinate you first. There are so many other groups which deserve the same concern who are doing their best to patiently wait because we know it’s important to and they right thing to do for those who are at more risk.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did Howard vaccinate all its teachers?

Nope. I live in Howard County. The teachers are in phase 1B, which means they are now eligible, but it is almost impossible to find places that both have open appointments and have supply. I have one friend who is a teacher married to a teacher. She spent her day off checking various places refreshing every 20-30 minutes or so. In the late afternoon, a friend passed her a new link and she managed to find one cancellation, but had to literally head out the door within a few minutes to make it there for the last-minute cancellation. She got home and checked the link and she found one more last minute cancellation and made her husband drop what he was doing and head over and grab the vaccination. And she had been checking daily since the 18th multiple times per day.

On her post, there were over a dozen other teachers saying that they were still trying to find a place to get a vaccination. I know teachers in 5 counties and the city of Baltimore and despite them being phase 1B, less than 10% of them have actually been able to find a vaccination. Hopefully February will get better, but right now, so many of the shots are going to hospitals who are prioritizing their high risk patients over others. The places that are open for the general public 1A/1B eligible cannot handle the volume of requests they are getting. They are essentially down to administering the tests that they get within a day or two of when they get them and then waiting for the next shipment.

You state this as if teachers are somehow special. Everyone in 1B are struggling to find vaccines. Most are already back to work without being vaccinated or the elderly who are at a much higher risk of death from Covid19 than a teacher who may be in their 30s to late 50s. Somehow, all of those essential workers who are unvaccinated got up every morning for work from March until now and went - to work.

I realize it’s a tough situation but it’s in now way a slight against teachers or something that should be addressed of “fixed”. If they are boosted up in priority as a group, it directly impacts those working now at great risk for catching covid or worse, the elderly who may die at a faster rate.

We all need to wear our masks, wash our hands and wait for our turn in line for a vaccine. Group 1b IS a prioritized group.

And tell Hogan that the supply of vaccine and the rollout stinks. Don’t complain that no one has offered to not make you return to work or somehow vaccinate you first. There are so many other groups which deserve the same concern who are doing their best to patiently wait because we know it’s important to and they right thing to do for those who are at more risk.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did Howard vaccinate all its teachers?

Nope. I live in Howard County. The teachers are in phase 1B, which means they are now eligible, but it is almost impossible to find places that both have open appointments and have supply. I have one friend who is a teacher married to a teacher. She spent her day off checking various places refreshing every 20-30 minutes or so. In the late afternoon, a friend passed her a new link and she managed to find one cancellation, but had to literally head out the door within a few minutes to make it there for the last-minute cancellation. She got home and checked the link and she found one more last minute cancellation and made her husband drop what he was doing and head over and grab the vaccination. And she had been checking daily since the 18th multiple times per day.

On her post, there were over a dozen other teachers saying that they were still trying to find a place to get a vaccination. I know teachers in 5 counties and the city of Baltimore and despite them being phase 1B, less than 10% of them have actually been able to find a vaccination. Hopefully February will get better, but right now, so many of the shots are going to hospitals who are prioritizing their high risk patients over others. The places that are open for the general public 1A/1B eligible cannot handle the volume of requests they are getting. They are essentially down to administering the tests that they get within a day or two of when they get them and then waiting for the next shipment.

Anonymous wrote:Did Howard vaccinate all its teachers?

Anonymous wrote:Hogan wins.

The approved dates for students who choose to return in-person are:

Week of March 1: Students identified for a program that will provide in-person instruction up to 5 days per week (including, but not limited to students receiving Special Education services, and others requiring additional learning support). Families who were previously invited to participate in school-based learning centers will receive an invitation to participate beginning March 1.

Week of March 15: Students in grades prekindergarten, Kindergarten, 1 and 2 return in a hybrid model.

Week of March 29: Students in grades 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 12, and those who participate in Career and Technical Education at ARL return in a hybrid model.

Week of April 12: Students in grades 7, 8, 10 and 11 return in a hybrid model.

Students whose parents/guardians opt for them to participate in the in-person hybrid option will attend school in-person for a maximum two days per week and participate virtually for the remainder of the week, with the exception of those identified to return on March 1. HCPSS will strive to offer students two days per week of in-person learning. However, if the number of requests exceeds capacity, due to social distancing requirements, it may be possible that HCPSS offers only one in-person day per week.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:It's a start. Whether it will happen remains to be seen, but I'm ok with that. I am happy that they were able to put together a plan and view that as considerable progress.

My personal view is is that they should start with special needs and the youngest learners and see how things go, prioritizing those teachers in vaccine distribution. The phased in approach would allow them to pull back if necessary.

Must be nice to be able to work from home until you’re vaccinated. There are many, many of us who don’t have that luxury.

Anonymous wrote:It's a start. Whether it will happen remains to be seen, but I'm ok with that. I am happy that they were able to put together a plan and view that as considerable progress.

My personal view is is that they should start with special needs and the youngest learners and see how things go, prioritizing those teachers in vaccine distribution. The phased in approach would allow them to pull back if necessary.