Central Florida teachers push to be among first vaccinated

As more students plan to head back into a classroom in Florida, teachers are asking to be one of the first in line to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

Chemistry teacher Judy Ngying happily taught students face to face before the pandemic.

This fall, she opted to teach virtually, but she’ll be back at Lake Howell High School in January.

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She’s not thrilled about it, and she’s concerned about juggling both distance and face-to-face learners and potentially catching the virus.

“Reasonably, I could come in contact with 150 kids a day, and they’re coming from families,” Ngying said. “I don’t know how big those families are.”

That’s part of why she thinks teachers should be prioritized to get the vaccine first.

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In Osceola County, Superintendent Debra Pace is urging more students to return to face-to-face learning for teachers to get vaccinated.

“From the beginning, teachers have been considered essential workers, and they are,” Pace said. “They’re on the front line.”

A group of 11 education associations sent a letter to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, arguing for teachers’ health but also saying, “The education community could be a trusted messenger to help ease anxieties and increase the trust factor.”

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The associations also said that “if school personnel could be vaccinated early in the process, school buildings could even serve as vaccination centers for the general public.”