Thanks to a partnership with Northside Hospital Gwinnett, 1,000 additional Gwinnett County Public Schools (GCPS) teachers and staff will receive their COVID-19 vaccination this week. The school district and Northside Gwinnett finalized logistics for this vaccination opportunity that will take place Friday, March 12. Included in the 1,000 staff members provided this opportunity are all remaining special education teachers who had indicated interest in receiving the vaccination. These employees were notified today of this opportunity that would allow them to get their vaccination faster than originally scheduled. A vaccination survey of GCPS employees, indicated that 13,096 (or 52%) of the district’s approximate 25,000 staff members indicated an interest in obtaining a vaccination. Of those employees indicating an interest, 7,500 were teachers/counselors/ media specialists/LSTCs.
GCPS has partnered with Gwinnett Newton Rockdale Health Department to provide vaccinations for the majority of its interested employees. Those vaccinations began Monday, March 8, 2021, and will be scheduled over the next few weeks. As the Health Department’s vaccine supply is limited, GCPS has worked to find other providers who also might make vaccination opportunities available to school district employees.
“We appreciate Northside Hospital Gwinnett for their partnership to vaccinate GCPS teachers and staff,” said CEO/Superintendent J. Alvin Wilbanks. “The hospital has a long history of working with the school district to support the health and welfare of our students and staff. The vaccination of our staff members is a top priority and we are thankful for community partners like Northside Hospital Gwinnett and the Gwinnett Newton Rockdale Health Department for helping to make this happen. We anticipate the addition of these 1,000 shots will guarantee that all GCPS teachers who had indicated an interest in receiving the vaccination will have an appointment in these first two weeks.”
“We are committed to ensuring that educators in Gwinnett have easy and complete access to the vaccinations they need,” said Debbie Mitcham, president and CEO of the Northside Gwinnett hospitals. “Northside and GCPS understand how critical this phase of COVID vaccinations is to the continuity of learning in our area. We are proud to be a partner in this effort.”
