On Feb. 8, 2021,  Governor Jared Polis announced that child-care providers, teachers and any Coloradans aged 65-69 could receive the COVID-19 vaccine. This will prevent teachers from contracting the virus, and make school a much safer environment for everyone.

Even though Governor Polis made this announcement, for teachers actually receiving the vaccine, it was a struggle and they were concerned that there is still a possibility that they might have to go a lot longer without the protection needed to go fully back to school.

“I was joking with some of my colleagues that it really felt like the Hunger Games,” said Amanda Humphrey, math teacher. “Because we were all scrambling to try to get one. I think I made 4 different appointments, with 4 different providers and 3 of them were canceled. That sense of chaos was definitely concerning at first.”

The chaotic nature of this situation is primarily based on the high demand for vaccines amongst all Americans, not just teachers. Because of this, some teachers feel under appreciated and taken for granted.

In an Education Week article written by Madeline Will, Lisa Ellis, a high school journalism teacher in Blythewood, S.C., said, “It is super frustrating and a little bit demoralizing that we are working so hard in the middle of a global pandemic, and we’re not being taken care of.”

The process of administering vaccines to teachers was not as organized as people would have liked at first, but now teachers have started to receive their first and second doses. With teachers finally getting the protection they need, the risk of spreading the virus around schools declines significantly.

The sense of safety and security in schools is now at an all time high since COVID-19 broke out in the U.S. in 2020 because of the new access to vaccines for teachers. The danger hasn’t passed for the older staff members, however, that have to be at school.

According to a survey conducted by the National Center for Education Services, 15.7% of teachers in Colorado were over the age of 55 and 18.8% of teachers in the United States were over the age of 55. 

“I think that for the benefit of education, being back 100% is a nonnegotiable. Safety is obviously the number one concern but there is a good option for people that don’t feel safe.”

AMANDA HUMPHREY

The risk of the virus leading to serious consequences amongst older school teachers is still there, but according to new evidence, people should feel a little more at ease when coming back to school with two doses of the vaccine.

In an article by Kelsey Piper, writer for Vox, “A growing body of evidence suggests the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines do, in fact, cut down on viral transmission. Two recent studies show some pretty favorable results — one from the UK that found that two doses of the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine cut down by 86 percent someone’s chances of developing an infection that they could pass along.”

As for teachers at HR, receiving the vaccine will give a better feeling of  well-being at school and teachers are anxious to be back in the classroom.

Humphrey said, “I am excited to be back. Like really really excited to be back in a classroom teaching my students.”

Kofi Kessey, Staff Reporter