By Connor James
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
About 90% of Howard County teachers have received at least one dose of the coronavirus vaccine and another 300 doses are expected to be given next week, county officials said Thursday.
The additional doses will be administered by Johns Hopkins Medicine and will add the 9,300 teachers who have scheduled their vaccination or have at least received their first dose, officials said in statement.
“Howard County has worked closely with the HCPSS to ensure that our educators and school staff are prioritized as they head back to the classrooms,” County Executive Calvin Ball said.
“This vaccination effort is a monumental undertaking, and we’re proud of how quickly we have been able to get shots in arms,” Ball state in a statement. “As many in our community look forward to their chance to be vaccinated, this is great progress to moving towards additional groups and phases.”
The vaccine roll-out the county schools implemented is part of the “HCPSS Bridge to Normalized Instruction,” an initiative that was established to handle the administration of vaccine doses to teachers in Howard County, in order to make a safe return to school for both students and teachers in the near future.
“As we transition to Phase II of the HCPSS Bridge to Normalized Instruction and additional staff and students return to buildings, we are encouraged by this significant accomplishment,” said Chao Wu, the chair of the school board..
School Superintendent Michael Martirano acknowledged that there are still some hurdles to be jumped in ending the COVID-19 pandemic. He also thanked all of frontline workers who have been helping with the distribution of vaccine doses.
“While the pandemic is far from over, the vaccine provides one layer of protection and we have made tremendous progress locally with vaccinations.” Martirano said. “I want to commend our health services staff who have worked hand-in-hand with the county health department to staff vaccine clinics and have been on the frontlines to administer thousands of vaccine doses over the last several weeks.”