Eden Prairie Schools learned this week that 24 doses of COVID-19 vaccine have been allocated for district staff under a plan announced Monday by Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.
The district is prioritizing teachers and other staff who have direct and extended contact with students to receive the small allocation of vaccines, according to Brett Johnson, senior director of communications and community relations.
Twenty-four Eden Prairie staff members will receive the first dose as directed by the State of Minnesota, Johnson said. Second doses will be scheduled by the vaccinating clinic, he said.
“In this initial group of vaccinations, we’ve identified special education teachers and paraprofessionals,” Johnson said. “It’s those staff that are serving students with unique needs. In some of those cases they have to be side-by-side with students to support them.”
Each notified staff member will sign up for an appointment with the state and then goes to one of the community vaccination locations that the governor announced at (Monday’s) press conference, he said.
The district was given no indication as to when additional doses might be available, Johnson said. Eden Prairie School District has 1,825 staff members, which includes coaches, advisors and reserve staff, according to the district’s website.
The 24 vaccine doses will vaccinate 1.3% of the total 1825 staff.
Five staff and 13 students reported positive COVID tests during the first two weeks of January, according to the district’s COVID-19 dashboard.
Walz announced Monday that the vaccine would be made available beginning Thursday at nine sites to people 65 older, and to teachers and child care providers.
Minnesota will receive about 60,000 first doses of the vaccine this week and is sending 12,000 of them to the vaccination sites.
While senior citizens can register for appointments online, educators will be scheduled through their school districts and child-care facilities.
Minnesota continues to vaccinate health care workers and staff and residents of skilled nursing homes, according to Kris Ehresmann, state infectious disease director.
More than 194,000 Minnesota residents have received at least first doses – 3.5% of the state population, according to the Minnesota Department of Health. About 38,000 of them have received both doses.
Staff will be notified as more vaccines become available to Eden Prairie schools, Johnson said.