Central Texas school leaders ask Austin health chief to prioritize teacher vaccinations

Leaders of more than 15 Central Texas school districts and public charter schools on Thursday sent a letter to Dr. Mark Escott, interim Austin-Travis County health authority, asking him to prioritize teacher vaccinations and urge the state to include all school staff members in the next round of shots. 

The signees, representing the Austin, Lake Travis, Pflugerville, Del Valle, Hays and Georgetown school districts, among others, educate more than 275,000 students in Central Texas.

The letter commends the work that Austin Public Health already has done and asks for local health officials to coordinate with providers to get vaccines to educators who are eligible for immunizations in Group 1B of the state’s vaccine rollout. The group comprises those over 65 and people with underlying health issues.

Phase 1A covers hospital workers, workers and residents at long-term care facilities and home health care workers. 

In the letter, district leaders said they estimate that 10% to 15% of their staffs are eligible for Group 1B vaccinations because of their age or preexisting conditions. Yet many eligible teachers say they are struggling to find available appointments to get vaccinated, the letter said.

Austin schools partnered with Ascension Seton to offer Group 1B vaccinations to staff members, and the letter asks Austin Public Health to facilitate similar partnerships for smaller districts.  

The letter also asks local health officials to join districts in urging the Texas Department of Health and Human Services to include all educators and school-based staffers in the next round of vaccinations.

“When we consider COVID’s effect on our most vulnerable populations, the short- and long-term economic impacts of school closures stand out,” the letter says. “We must prioritize helping all students and educators return to school safely to ensure students do not suffer long term effects of learning loss.”

John Armbrust, the founder and CEO of Austin Achieve Public Schools, said that vaccinating all educators needs to be a statewide priority. Austin Achieve Public Schools was among the charter schools who signed the letter. 

“Educators are as front line as it gets. I know health care workers are doing incredibly critical work, but educators are interfacing with dozens if not hundreds of kids on a daily basis,” he said. “They are keeping our schools running, which is a critical service to our community.”

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention called for teachers to be vaccinated alongside front-line workers and seniors, and according to the letter, 32 other states have followed those guidelines in their distribution plans. 

The letter recommends arranging vaccination sites and collaborating with school nurses to make it easier for teachers to receive the immunizations. 

Escott said in an email that Austin Public Health is prioritizing the continuity of government programs and services, including schools, in its vaccine distribution. 

"While the overall vaccine distribution plan at the state level is still not clear, in the coming weeks and months, we want to ensure that we can continue government operations, like education, and get those most vulnerable to severe disease and death from COVID-19 vaccinated," he wrote.

This story has been updated with a comment from Dr. Mark Escott.