Biden Orders States To Prioritize Vaccinations for Teachers; Sets One-Shot Target by End-March
President Joe Biden on Tuesday ordered U.S. states to prioritize COVID-19 vaccinations for teachers to ensure children could return to school quickly and safely, and called for every educator to receive at least one shot by the end of March.
Biden also announced that Merck & Co Inc will help make rival Johnson & Johnson’s single-shot COVID-19 vaccine, a partnership similar to those seen during World War Two.
With three vaccines now available, Biden said he was confident there would be enough vaccines available for each adult in the United States by the end of May.
He also said he was confident of reaching his goal of delivering 100 million COVID-19 vaccine doses in his first 100 days in office.
“Today’s announcements are a huge step in our effort to beat this pandemic,” Biden said in a televised statement from the White House. “But I have to be honest with you. This fight is far from over.”
He said increased production of three vaccines would boost the effort to reopen U.S. schools, citing growing mental health concerns and the risk of widening disparities caused by the challenges of remote learning.
Biden said over 30 states had already taken steps to ensure educators were vaccinated, and said he was using the full authority of the federal government to direct the remaining states to follow suit.
“My challenge is this: we want every educator, school staff member, child care worker to receive at least one shot by the end of the month of March,” he said, noting that many parents were exiting the labor market in “astonishing numbers” to help their children learn remotely.
To meet that goal, Biden said the federal pharmacy program would prioritize the vaccination of pre-K through 12 educators and staff, as well as child care workers.
He said his goal remained to have most schools open by the end of his first 100 days in office, but said that required passage of the $1.9 trillion rescue plan currently working its way through Congress.
“Let’s treat in-person learning like an essential service that it is, and that means getting essential workers (who) provide that service – educators, school staff, childcare workers – …. vaccinated immediately,” he said.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose and Tim Ahmann; writing by Andrea Shalal; Editing by Leslie Adler and Dan Grebler)
The elderly in rural areas may never get vaccinated. Everyone else is getting the shots first when the elderly are the most susceptible. It would seem that Mad King Biden has the same ideas as Cuomo.
teachers union got biden by his little balls…
If teachers are going to be forced to teach in person, then they should be vaccinated.
Its a necessary step to open up schools and minimize risk to teachers. Wouldn’t you agree thats important?
When will the MSM start to count Joe’s lies? This big one is that the 1.9T must pass for schools to open. Can;t even use what has already been approved.
The School money won’t take effect this year anyway. That was reported today about the stimulus package. The biggest money is for the blue state bailout for debt before Covid. The Democrats keep cutting back on the number of checks. The checks were to get Democrats elected. Now they have to find a way to delete them while getting all the attached legislation passed.
Why bother.
The teacher’s union don’t want the teachers to go back to work.
Teachers don’t want to go back to work.
They are getting paid even if not at school.
Source? Because thats not what’s being reported in surveys or interviews. I also have three teachers in my immediate family alone and none of them enjoy it. My mother hated it so much she started teaching in her classroom before it was even opened to kids. THAT’S how much she hated working from home.
I’m sure there’s plenty if lazy teachers – i have had several – but that is hardly the standard.
Quid Pro Joe has no plan. He never did. His only “plan” was and is to try to live out his term and just do whatever Pelosi, Schumer, and Ho Harris tell him to do.
Ditto on the no plan. Higher taxes, no economy and more illegals
Yeah, Joke Biden has so little of a plan that he got Pfizer to agree to set up manufacturing of ANOTHER company’s vaccine. He is so lazy, Prelusive, that even President Who? couldn’t do this obvious step.
Confused Squat – You’re lying again. Mad King Biden is just taking credit for someone else’s work again like he’s done all his life. The Democrat State News Media swears to it.
States are going tg o set up their own programs and not listen to this clown.
Teachers will be vaccinated and by the time it’s effective school is over for the year.