Thread by @CTULocal1

Children ages 5-11 are eligible for the COVID vaccine. A relief for thousands of families.

But our union and our district must work in partnership to get our students vaccinated. We absolutely cannot have a repeat of COVID testing failures.

Let's unpack what this all means...

Parents and school staff continue to have significant concerns about the City and CPS’ plan for increasing vaccinations for students, after the district revealed this week that just 47 percent of eligible students have been vaccinated.

In addition, info obtained from CPS via FOIA reveals that <1,000 of all eligible students ages 12-17 have been vaccinated at each of the district’s four regional sites.

Four regional sites is not enough for a city of millions. We must lessen the burden on working families.

This means meeting people where they are, where they live, where they socialize and where they go to school. As someone shared this morning, "There should be a line at every school, library and park." The resources are there. The City and CPS must make this happen.

CPS is averaging only 34 vaccinations a week across its four regional sites. Parents and educators (also parents) need a plan in place for easy access. Right now, there is no plan for this, just as there was no plan for COVID testing to start the school year.

Mayor Lightfoot and her CPS team this week walked back their commitment “to testing 100 percent of CPS students and staff each week,” first made on August 6. Since then, CPS missed multiple deadlines for weekly testing. Again, we cannot have the same failure with vaccinations.

CPS did announce that it will soon begin a “test to stay” program to reduce the number of students in quarantine. "Too much quarantine" is their new talking point.

But what's "too much quarantine" in a pandemic?

It remains to be seen how CPS is going to all of a sudden ‘test to stay’ when it took them weeks after the start of the school year to begin testing at all.

Both CPS and the mayor need to listen to ALL parents and families, not just those aligned with their messaging.

CPS has not done any targeted outreach in communities with the highest rates of COVID infection. The vaccination rate for CPS students (47%) lags the citywide vaccination rate for the same age group, which is at 58%.

Racial disparities seen in COVID hospitalizations among children ages 5-11 are nearly the same as seen in adults, according to the CDC. There are proven models for broad-based vaccinations, and targeted and direct outreach to families, in both Los Angeles and New Jersey.

In New Jersey, vaccination rates have doubled in two months. This should serve as a model for districts across the country — including CPS — to provide access to students and families most in need. newark.chalkbeat.org/2021/9/17/2268…

But the mayor and the district must be willing to look beyond marketing and public relations to put actual people power behind efforts at engagement.

Dr. Arwardy doesn't want 'Hunger Games' and neither do we. We want what families want: School-based vaccination clinics.

Despite the small numbers, students are still being vaccinated, which is vital as we enter the colder months of the year when more time is spent indoors where the virus is easily transmitted. And the best way to get kids vaccinated as quickly as possible is in their schools.

We've been clear that vaccinations for everyone eligible is the key to mitigation. Educators have been fighting for vaccinations since January, then pushing for vax sites to be opened up to families and communities. We are/were hated for it, of course. But we were also right.

CPS has thousands of employees and the capacity to launch a city-wide campaign around outreach and engagement. Simply giving admin a custom-made flyer with dates and times, and placing the burden of notification, promotion and safety entirely on principals, is not the move.

CPS should set up a vaccination clinic at every school, organize after-school events and provide significant incentives for familes. And stop the gaslighting. Claiming that ‘everything is fine’ while short-changing the safety of other people’s children is no way to build trust.

The roadmap to success is there, and teachers, paraprofessionals, clinicians, counselors, social workers, librarians and case managers can help navigate.

Getting our largest student population vaccinated is a life-saver, and a game-changer. Let's work togther and get it right.