Manatee school employees have two shots to get a COVID vaccine heading into spring break
Two vaccine events will offer a total of 4,000 doses of a COVID-19 vaccine to Manatee County school district teachers and other employees in the week ahead.
On Saturday and Sunday, a total of 1,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be offered to district teachers and staff who are 50 years old and over, in an event being organized by the Florida Division of Emergency Management. The single-dose vaccine will be administered between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. each day in the gym at Braden River High School, 6545 State Road 70 E.
Appointments will not be needed and 500 doses will be administered each day, on a first-come, first-serve basis.
On Monday and Wednesday — during the school district’s spring break — inoculations will be offered to school district employees in the gym at Palmetto High School, 1200 17th St. W., Palmetto. A total of 3,000 first doses of the Moderna vaccine will be administered by MCR Health.
There will be no age restriction at the MCR Health event but appointments are required. There will be 1,500 appointments available each day between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Those appointments can be made at the COVID-19 Vaccine for SDMC Employees webpage.
“We are extremely thankful to MCR Health, the Florida Department of Health Manatee and to state officials for helping us make these vaccinations opportunities available to our employees,” Superintendent Cynthia Saunders said in an issued statement. “All vaccinations are voluntary but we know our employees have been looking forward to the extra-level of protection and relief these vaccinations can provide.”
MCR Health will be able to provide vaccines to school employees of any age because it is getting its vaccine allotment from the federal government. Making it available to all employees abided by President Joe Biden’s pushfor all all pre-K-12 teachers, staff and childcare workers to be vaccinated.
State organized vaccine sites are still abiding by Gov. Ron DeSantis’ current vaccine eligibility order, which only allows for all K-12 school personnel who are 50 years old and older to get shots. The School District has about 2,500 employees who are 50 years old and over.
For the MCR Health event at at Palmetto High, employees will need to fill out the consent forms sent to them by the district by email and bring it with them to their appointment, along with their driver’s license and school district badge. The event is strictly for district employees, and no one else will be allowed into the school gym.
School district employees should expect information on how they can schedule their second dose of the Moderna vaccine in a future email, according to the school district.
Through the collaboration with MCR Health, about 200 school district staffers were vaccinated early last month at their two clinics on the Southeast High School and Manatee Elementary School campuses. The district has more than 300 employees who are 65 years old and older.
This week, there were 1,000 vaccine does made available at those same MCR clinics for district employees who were 50 years old or older.
Herald reporter Giuseppe Sabella contributed to this report.
This story was originally published March 11, 2021 at 4:17 PM.
