Second vaccine clinic for Peninsula teachers and staff now open for appointments
UPDATE: The second of two newly announced COVID-19 vaccine clinics for Peninsula School District teachers and staff was announced Tuesday with details on how to attend.
The clinic will take place at St. Anthony Hospital at 11567 Canterwood Boulevard Northwest in Gig Harbor from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sunday, March 14. An exclusive link was shared with staff and teachers over email to ensure only they could sign up for this clinic.
The district clarified that substitute staff are eligible, though said they would need to call Human Resources to obtain an official letter to take to the appointment.
Full-time teachers will need to bring Peninsula School District badge or ID in order to be vaccinated.
The event will require all who wish to get vaccinated to make an appointment, as no walk-ins are allowed. The clinic will provide the first dose of the vaccine and a second dose will be scheduled in-person.
As before, this clinic is not extending vaccine availability to family members.
Aimee Gordon, spokesperson for the district, told The Gateway that the first clinic last Sunday had “288 staff members participate.” The district has “roughly 1,200” staff, about 600 of whom are certificated teachers.
The district says it is not requiring vaccination as a job prerequisite and Gordon said no one is tracking how many employees get the vaccine overall.
“We are not mandating vaccines and need to respect that everyone will make choices based on their own circumstances and beliefs,” Gordon said in an email.
The first vaccination was Sunday, March 7, also at St. Anthony Hospital.
The email said that the event “will provide the first of two vaccine doses” though did not specify what kind of vaccine will be administered. At the time of the first dose, an appointment will be made for a second dose.
All teachers are now eligible to receive the vaccine, following Governor Jay Inslee’s announcement last week that moved them up to Washington state’s Phase 1B-1.
In the event teachers can’t attend the teacher-specific clinics, they can make an appointment or attend a Tacoma Pierce County Health Department event.
This story was originally published March 6, 2021 at 6:07 PM.
