Private schools in Los Angeles offer COVID vaccines to teachers despite county restrictions

Teachers at Wesley School, a private school in Los Angeles, received their first dose of coronavirus vaccine, despite the county’s health department guidelines.

“Many parents have expressed concern about the well-being of our teachers during these difficult times,” the school said in an email sent to parents on Tuesday.

“Therefore, through a special program for key workers and educators, we shared that all Wesley employees who wanted to be vaccinated were able to take advantage of last week’s offer to receive their first dose. I wanted to, “continued the email.

The school’s success in obtaining vaccines for teachers was inconsistent with Los Angeles County’s vaccine policy. The county currently only vaccinates health care workers and workers over the age of 65.

Barbara Ferrer, director of health at Los Angeles County, said in a briefing Tuesday that it would take another couple of weeks for teachers to qualify for the vaccine.

Los Angeles is now Experienced vaccine shortage And Five COVID vaccine sites in the area, including Dodger Stadium, have been temporarily closed as a result.

However, some Wesley School teachers were able to get vaccinated through the Northridge Hospital Medical Center.

The medical center has vaccinated “tens of thousands” of health care workers and the elderly on local California television station KCAL 9, but has vaccinated 100 times to provide it to both private and public schools in the area. He said he did.

“We started to vaccinate front-line health care workers first, and then people in the community over the age of 65,” the medical center told television stations. “Recently, vaccines have become available and we have contacted schools and day care centers in the valley to provide vaccines to educators over the age of 65.”

Julie Gareth, Interim Head of Wesley School, said Los Angeles Times They were able to vaccinate the teacher on the occasion, saying, “Thank you for contacting me.”

“We firmly believe that vaccinated educators are important for bringing students back to learning directly,” the school said. “Therefore, we were contacted by a local hospital in January and found that a list of teachers and other essential workers wishing to be vaccinated when the vaccine became available was created.”

“When the hospital notified us that the vaccine was available, some of our teachers made reservations and received the first dose of the vaccine,” the school added. “We urge health authorities to prioritize vaccination for all educators.”

Parents at public schools were angry that private school teachers were able to get the vaccine before other teachers.

Jenna Schwartz, parent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, told KCAL 9 that “these vaccines may have been given to teachers living in the most affected areas. In the buildings and premises currently on site. The workers may have been vaccinated. They may have been to the staff at the procurement site, who distribute food daily. “

A public school in the Los Angeles Unified School District declined to provide a medical center vaccine because of concerns that it violated health department guidelines.

“The county has confirmed that the current vaccine is only available to health care workers and people over the age of 65,” the school district told KCAL 9, “the county is investigating the issue.”

In a statement Los Angeles TimesThe county’s public health department said, “Healthcare workers and people over the age of 65 need to be vaccinated at all sites, and if a large number of expires, public health is the best way to eliminate waste. You need to talk to the bureau .. “

Newsweek I contacted Wesley School and the Los Angeles County Health Department, but didn’t get a response in time for the publication.