HILLSBOROUGH COUNTY, Fla. — Hillsborough County School leaders and the Florida Department of Health in Hillsborough County are now working toward a plan to vaccinate teachers across the district that may be announced within the coming days, according to Dr. Douglas Holt, director of the Florida Department of Health in Hillsborough County.
However, no official plan is finalized as of yet or ready for a rollout to the public, according to the Hillsborough School District.
At a recent press conference, Holt spoke in vague terms about the vaccination plan for educators, saying he hopes to announce more details soon and he's been in touch with Superintendent Addison Davis.
Florida Department of Health in Hillsborough County says they are working with Hillsborough School leaders on COVID-19 vaccination plan for educators. However, a lot of details remain vague. No plan is finalized as of yet, acc. to the district. @abcactionnews pic.twitter.com/vYMN9X5RDO
— Lauren Rozyla-Wong (@LaurenRozyla) January 12, 2021
"I hope I can tell you more later this week, or certainly by next week about some strategies that we're going to be putting together," Holt said at a press conference on Sunday afternoon.
Currently, Holt said the only educators who are eligible for vaccinations are people ages 65 and up, per the order from Gov. Ron DeSantis. However, Holt said they expect to "rapidly expand" that plan.
"To do the teachers will take a joint effort from our medical community and I've already received preliminary responses that they're on board with that," Holt said.
He went on to talk about the limited supply of the vaccine how that will impact educator vaccinations moving forward.
"Vaccine supply still drives everything," Holt said.
Holt also said the county has a great distribution system for the vaccine and that no vaccine doses will be left unused.
In the meantime, the Florida Education Association, the state's largest teachers union, has been petitioning the public to send letters to Governor Ron DeSantis about putting teachers on the vaccination priority list.
They are hosting a virtual town hall to answer teacher's questions about the new COVID-19 Vaccinations on Tuesday, January 12 at 6 p.m.
The federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices lists educators. school employees and childcare workers as “frontline essential workers” who should be prioritized for vaccinations.