TAMPA, Fla — Education leaders across Florida are asking Governor Ron DeSantis to rethink his COVID-19 vaccine plan. They think teachers should be next in line.
"I'm the only board member who is now protected. You know we are out there, making sure that our students and our staff are doing well. We want our teachers to be protected too, that's why I'm advocating for them," Hillsborough County School Board Member Karen Perez said.
Perez is also a frontline healthcare worker with the Tampa VA -- that's why she was eligible to get one of the first doses. She knew it wouldn't just protect her, but her patients and family.
"There was no question as to receiving this vaccine," Perez said.
She's now taking her experience with the vaccine to the district. Hillsborough Schools sent a letter to DeSantis' office after finding out he plans on prioritizing those 65 and older first and not following the CDC's recommendations to include essential care workers.
"I'm not saying that everybody else should be put on the back burner. That's not what I'm saying, but when the governor is saying that the schools need to be open in order for everything else to be open, then our teachers need to be considered as essential, frontline, and they need this vaccine as soon as possible. He needs to make it available to them," Perez said.
The Florida Education Association sent a similar letter to the governor a week ago asking for all teachers to have access to approved vaccines.
"Educators want to be in the classroom. Our governor should lead in that effort to make sure that educators are safe so they can do what they want to do and what they know is best, and that's get into the classrooms with our kids back in the schools," FEA's President Andrew Spar said.
Spar says the shot is another layer of protection for those in the classroom. So far at least 25 teachers in the state have died from COVID-19.
"The CDC has said that educators should be near the top of the list. Unfortunately, it looks like our governor has decided, once again, to ignore the advice of medical professionals, namely the CDC here and go his own way. It's unfortunate because he's coined this year, the 'Year of the Educators' but educators aren't feeling very valued and appreciated right now by this governor," Spar said.
DeSantis says he expects teachers to be vaccinated in a few months when the Johnson & Johnson vaccine is approved and available.
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