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Teachers get vaccines as learning moves online

Lakeland teachers eligible for vaccines and teaching from home

LAKELAND - The past week has been a firestorm of information relating to vaccine guidelines and learning expectations for teachers and supporting staff in Alberta and across the Lakeland.  On Monday, teachers, childcare workers and school support staff under the age of 40 were finally given the green light to book appointments for their first COVID-19 shot.  The next day, government officials shut down all in-class schooling.

Premier Jason Kenney’s announcement on the vaccines has been a long time-coming for teachers and support staff who had been waiting and advocating for their turn to receive the jab as frontline workers.  

With approximately 35 school days left in the year — and after Tuesday’s announcement that all Alberta K-12 schools are moving back to online learning for the next three weeks — the vaccine news comes too late, says Marjorie Charles, the president of Northern Lights local 15 of the Alberta Teachers Association (ATA). 

Given the recommended timeline between doses, Charles questions whether school staff who receive their first shots now will be fully inoculated by the time classes begin next fall.  

“I’m guessing that many won’t have their second shot before the first day of school. This is still a problem,” she told Lakeland This Week. 

But that is not the only thing Charles is unsure of. Comments made by Premier Kenney that almost two-thirds of school staff and childcare workers have already been eligible to receive vaccines in earlier age and health-specific rollouts, don’t reflect what she sees among her coworkers. 

“I do not know where Mr. Kenney found his statistic of 60 per cent.” 

According to Charles, an ATA survey slated to come out later next week reports that only 37 per cent of Alberta teachers have actually received their first dose. She says that Kenney’s statistics on how many “could obtain” a vaccine is not the same as how many have actually received inoculations. 

Vaccines for Albertans 12 and up 

All of this comes at the heels of another large vaccine announcement made by the Alberta government yesterday.  

“A major milestone,” beamed Kenney at a Wednesday afternoon press conference. “We had this day in mind. The day we knew we could begin vaccinating pretty much everyone.” 

Starting May 10, any Albertan 12 years or older will be able to book an appointment for a COVID vaccine from a pharmacy or health clinic. 

Youth under 18 will only receive doses of the Pfizer-BioTech vaccine for now, which has been approved by Health Canada for use in children.  

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