COVID-19 In Pennsylvania: Clinics Prepare To Start Giving Teachers Johnson & Johnson Vaccines Next Week
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Organizations are now receiving word on how many Johnson & Johnson vaccines they will receive for the teacher and school staff clinics. It won't be as easy as just showing up.
"There are 42 public school districts in the county not inclusive of the city of Pittsburgh plus all the non-public and charter schools," said Aaron Skrbin with the Allegheny Intermediate Unit.
That's roughly 20,000 teachers and school staff who have the option to get the vaccine from the Allegheny Intermediate Unit.
"We've been allocated 7,400 doses for the county," Skrbin said.
Those doses will be divided between the school districts starting with the elementary staff first. The actual clinic will take place at AIU's headquarters in the Waterfront.
"Round numbers, I'm thinking we will need 20 to 30 folks because you are talking about vaccinating a large number of people in a short amount of time. You have to have support for greeters, people checking in, runners and the actual vaccinators," Skrbin said.
The hope is to start mid to late next week. Skrbin told KDKA he's waiting for the National Guard and support staff to arrive to run through the process. He said the plan is to give out the same number of doses per day and spread it out over a week and a half.
"We expect to receive the second batch in about three to four weeks, and we will stand this up and go through the process again," Skrbin said.
The AIU had a head start in the process because it was planning a similar vaccine clinic with the local healthcare systems for when the state eventually moved to Phase 1B.
There are a handful of intermediate units across our region that will hold similar clinics for staff in its coverage area.
Intermediate Unit 1 represents Washington, Fayette and Greene counties which include 25 school districts and a handful of technical schools.
Executive Director Don Martin told KDKA surveys went out to teachers and staff to determine who wants a shot. The unit received just shy of 3,000 doses for the first week and are still working out the details on where the clinic will take place.
The unit is hoping to find a centralized location since the region is widespread and the tentative start date is March 12.
