News Update

Districts to decide who gets teacher-designated Covid vaccines; in-person workers prioritized

School districts, charters and private schools will ultimately decide who will get the teacher-designated Covid-19 vaccines, as long as teachers who are working in-person are prioritized.

That’s according to guidance issued Thursday by Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office, which outlines how thousands of vaccines designated for teachers will be distributed. Newsom announced Feb. 19 that 10% of the state’s allotted Covid-19 vaccine supply — about 75,000 doses a week — will be reserved for teachers and other education professionals as part of an effort to reopen schools.

Starting March 1, education workers throughout the state will receive up to 75,000 single-use codes a week, which they could use to set up appointments on myturn.ca.gov. The codes will be allocated to communities based on two factors: the number of education workers in the community and the extent to which those workers serve children who have been disproportionately impacted by the pandemic, according to the guidance.

Education workers will qualify for an “expedited appointment” if they are currently working in person or will be in the next 21 days. The state is granting “flexibility” on the 21-day window, however, based on available supply in order to speed up the distribution.

The state will calculate how many codes will be given to each county office of education based on “student equity” — measured by its share of low-income students, English learners and foster youth — and K-12 staff size. The county office of education will then distribute the codes to school districts, charter schools and private schools which will distribute them to their staff.