Vaccinations for Teachers Begin

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Instead of Cupid shot, 580 Durango 9-R

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staff and faculty

received their first round

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of the COVID-19 vaccine as an

early Valentine's day present.

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You're watching the local news network

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brought to you by Whole

Health Family Medicine

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and Kroegers ACE hardware.

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I'm Wendy Graham Settle.

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Durango school district

9-R took an important step

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toward reopening classes to

in-person learning full-time

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with a vaccination clinic

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for teachers and staff on February 13th.

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Durango 9-R staff were

included in the third phase

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of vaccinations,

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for frontline and essential workers.

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Signup sheets went out the week

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of February 8th for the two clinics

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one at Escalante Middle School,

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and the other at Durango high school.

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Mercy Regional Medical Center

vaccinated childcare workers.

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Nearly 600 faculty and staff

received their first vaccine

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at clinics organized by San

Juan basin public health

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and Albertsons.

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So earlier this month,

the governor of Colorado,

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governor Jared Polis asked that educators

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get worked in right here

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in the first couple of weeks of February.

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So beginning February 8th, we had access

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to doses as San Juan

based in public health.

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We worked with providers

in the community to ensure

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that we got as many doses to

the community as possible.

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And we started scheduling

with the different providers

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and with all of the P through 12 educators

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school staff and licensed

childcare appointments

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around the county

beginning today Saturday.

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Superintendent Dan snow

Berger, who assisted

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at the Escalante clinic estimated that 70%

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of the staff would

receive their first round

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of the vaccine between the

two clinics with 328 staff

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and faculty signed up at Escalante

and 168 signed up at DHS.

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You know, educators

are frontline employees

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and just like medical workers,

they're in a classroom

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with a number of a large number

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of children and a large

number of, of, in some cases

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adolescents who are equally as at risk

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of spreading and catching and,

and contributing the virus.

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So because we have this

great community effort

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of providers coming together with all

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of the schools and coming together

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with the additional

schools and the childcare

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in the community and starting at this week

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we really believe that

by the beginning of March

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almost a hundred percent

of our K through 12,

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our preschool and our licensed

childcare staff, teachers

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and other workers will all have had access

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to a full set of vaccines.

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So this means that most

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of our educators will be done

by the beginning of March.

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This is really great news from

a public health perspective.

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We just couldn't be more

thrilled to have teachers

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able to be in the classroom

safely and get as many kids

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as possible back for in-person learning

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because we know how important that is

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to families and to the

community and to all of us.

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Those who received their

vaccines on Saturday,

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will get the second Pfizer

vaccine on March 13th.

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Thanks for watching this edition

of the local news network.

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I'm Wendy Graham.

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