On Feb. 27, the County announced the expansion of COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to all individuals working in education, childcare, emergency services and food and agriculture. At the Chula Vista Vaccination Supersite, staff and volunteers began the first day of vaccinating educators.
Jillian Salazar, kindergarten teacher, was there with her sister Jamie Palomares, a special needs pre-school instructor. Both work in the San Diego Unified School District.
Salazar said they were both excited to get the first dose of the Moderna vaccine and that the process was organized, happy, fast and easy.
“Being a teacher in the pandemic has been very challenging,” said Salazar. “Within our whole careers, we had to organize and adjust and also take care of the wellbeing of our students while we were navigating something totally brand new to us.”
Salazar said she has a huge sense of hope going forward knowing that her students will be safe in the classroom.
“With my vaccination, going in I pose less of a risk to their health as well. I want to thank everyone for choosing to come,” she said. “There are hundreds of people here from the community choosing to get vaccinated, so together we can get all of these kiddos back into the classroom safely.”
Chris Howard, Sharp Healthcare president and CEO said the day was an exciting new chapter in vaccinating San Diegans. He said Sharp Healthcare has a goal to vaccinate one million San Diegans and expected to exceed 200,000 doses over the weekend.
“Today introduces a new chapter where now we begin to vaccinate our educators and other key groups around the county,” said Howard. “We have been long time partners with VEEBA, and we enjoy this opportunity to continue that partnership as we have been the healthcare provider for many teachers and other educators across San Diego County for years.”
Sharp Healthcare Bord of Directors Dede Alpert said she was proud to be part of an organization getting the community vaccinated, making a way out of the pandemic. She said it was the employees and community members who volunteer every day that makes these clinics become a reality. Alpert said this is a vital step of getting educators vaccinated and are on the road back into the classroom where our teachers and students belong.
“To date, Sharp Healthcare has put 187,000 first and second doses in San Diegan’s arms,” said Alpert. “That includes Sharp caregivers, healthcare workers, those over the age of 65, and happily today, the first of our educators to help get them back into the classrooms.
Last Thursday at this site we vaccinated 3,500 people. That was a daily record for us.”
Alpert said she could not emphasize enough what it meant to see educators, teachers and classified staff from Oceanside to San Ysidro and everywhere in between in the lines to get their vaccinations.
“As a former school board member, a mother, a grandmother who has children in school, I applaud all of the teachers who stepped up and learned how to teach remotely in the midst of this pandemic,” she said. “And to all the families and students who have persevered and were able to keep learning in a new and unthinkable way during the past year.”
California Schools VEEBA is a nonprofit health trust that provides healthcare and wellbeing services to San Diego employers and the community at large.
California Schools VEEBA Area Vice President Laura Josh said it is partnering in a volunteering capacity with the county of San Diego to help coordinate the COVID-19 vaccination process for K-12 education employees as well as its member community college districts.
“We are dedicated to the health and safety of this community and are honored to be a part of this process,” said Josh. “To date, we have accepted more than 14,000 invitations to our educators supporting our at most risk communities.”
