Broward County Public School Employees Receive COVID-19 Vaccines

By Sharon Aron Baron

On Saturday, Broward County Public Schools, in collaboration with the Florida Department of Health – Broward provided “hundreds” of District employees ages 65 and older COVID-19 vaccinations.

“We’re excited to be here today to see our hard-working employees receive the COVID-19 vaccine,” said Superintendent Robert W. Runcie.

On January 13, Superintendent Runcie spoke at a national news conference with Chiefs for Change, a bipartisan network of state and district education leaders, appealing to the government for the immediate release of the COVID-19 vaccine supply and to make all school staff eligible for vaccination.

Barbara Colgrove, a retired teacher at J.P. Taravella, now working as an Information Management Technician Barbara Colgrove, a retired Information Management Technician at J.P. Taravella, currently working at Atlantic West Elementary School in Margate, said the event was very well-organized and has a return date scheduled for her second vaccine.

Her appointment was between 8 a.m. and 9:30 a.m.; however, she got to Marham Park at 7:40 a.m., and the line was already long. Colgrove got to the checkpoint at about 9:40 a.m., and from there, things moved along quickly.

“You never get out of the car,” said Cosgrove, of Coral Springs. “After the shot, they write a time on your windshield that reflects 15 minutes after your shot was given; you proceeded to an area for them to monitor everyone for 15 minutes to make sure no bad reactions. The time on your windshield tells them you can go if you feel okay.”

Along with the school board, Superintendent Runcie said he is grateful for their collaboration with the Florida Department of Health – Broward and its director, Paula Thaqi.

“We will continue to encourage our state and the federal government to prioritize all our employees to receive the COVID-19 vaccine as a way to make our schools safer and address concerns about risks so that we can provide in-person instruction to our students.”

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