03/16/21

In order to meet the end-of-March deadline in President Biden’s directive to prioritize vaccinations of K–12 school employees, we are sharing the following information:

There are four primary avenues through which school employees can access vaccines:

1. The federal Retail Pharmacy Program
2. The “Get Ready” partnership with Kaiser Permanente
3. Mass vaccination sites
4. Local partnerships you develop with providers in your area

In many areas, the pharmacies participating in the federal Retail Pharmacy Program will likely have the most vaccine supply, thus, the greatest ability to vaccinate your employees more quickly. We are hearing of instances where scheduling through local pharmacies feels a bit sporadic, and your staff may express frustration. We are also hearing from state health officials that vaccine allocations to those participating in the federal Retail Pharmacy Program are a viable option for educators to consider, and they are required to prioritize educator appointments two days each week.

Staff should continue to use the COVID Vaccine Finder to find and schedule an appointment through the federal Retail Pharmacy Program or mass vaccination sites. Most providers receive information about the number of doses they will receive on a weekly basis.