On Wednesday, March 3, 2021, Governor Wolf and the COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force announced that the Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) single-dose COVID-19 vaccine will be used to vaccinate PreK-12 public and non-public teachers and other school staff. Just a week previous, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) authorized the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for emergency use. The efforts to vaccinate PreK-12 school staff is separate from the ongoing Phase 1A vaccine rollout.
The Commonwealth is slated to receive 94,600 doses within the week. The Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency (PEMA), along with PDE and PDH, are partnering with the 28 Intermediate Units (IUs) in the state to establish vaccine sites. The Pennsylvania National Guard and AMI Expeditionary Healthcare (AMI) will administer the vaccine. Each IU region will have at least one vaccination location with most locations starting vaccinations between March 10th and 13th.
The initial priority is vaccinating the following school staff:
- Pre-K-12 teachers of students with disabilities and English learners and related in-classroom support staff;
- Elementary teachers and related in-classroom support staff, beginning with the youngest students;have regular and sustained in-person contact with students;
- Bus drivers/transporters, and support staff and contracted service providers who have direct contact with elementary students; and
- Other priority school staff who have regular, sustained in-person contact with students during the school day.
Initially, staff that services schools that house younger children are being targeted since those children are felt to be more susceptible to learning loss and their families are more likely to have childcare challenges.
Note: The city of Philadelphia operates a separate vaccine distribution.
Please click here to access Answers to Frequently Asked Questions About the COVID-19 Vaccine for Pre-K to 12 School Staff on the PDE website or click here to view the press release.