Close X
Thursday, November 28, 2024
ADVT 
National

Vaccinations for school based staff in the Surrey School District to begin March 24th

Darpan News Desk Surrey School District, 24 Mar, 2021 06:02 AM
  • Vaccinations for school based staff in the Surrey School District to begin March 24th

The Provincial Health Officer recently announced that K-12 educational staff are among priority groups identified by public health to receive their first dose of the AstraZeneca/SII COVISHIELD (AZ/SII) vaccine in April.

With doses of this vaccine available now, Fraser Health has decided to provide school-based staff in the Surrey School District early access to the vaccine in a phased approach, so immunization clinics are not overwhelmed.

"Our district has experienced more school-based exposures than any other district in our province," said Laurie Larsen, Chair of the Surrey Board of Education. "Education is an essential service, and we are so pleased that our school staff will be able to get immunized early."

With almost 9,000 school-based staff in the district, appointments are being offered to schools in zones that have the highest rates of community transmission first. This means that our first priority will be all schools in the Panorama-Sullivan, City Centre and Newton-Fleetwood areas.

BCTF President Teri Mooring welcomed the news for schools South of the Fraser with much enthusiasm.

Vaccinations will begin March 24 and our hope is that all of our school-based staff will be immunized by April 1. The clinics will begin with a capacity of more than 400 people per day but will quickly increase to about 1,500 per day.

The district will share a letter with staff at each school as their school becomes eligible. The letter will include instructions for immunization appointments, including your allotted time slot.

"Our staff have been working tirelessly to keep our schools open and ensure our students can continue to learn as safely as possible," said Superintendent Jordan Tinney. "Providing early access to the vaccine for our district's school-based staff, particularly as transmission continues to be high in our community, is critical in keeping our schools open for in-person learning and ultimately benefiting our entire community."

At this time, only school-based staff – employees who are assigned to a specific school site – are eligible. District staff who are not school based are not eligible at this time.

Our hope is that all our school-based staff take advantage of this opportunity and choose to get vaccinated as their school is eligible. These immunizations will help address ongoing community transmission, and help protect our staff, students and larger school communities.

MORE National ARTICLES

MPs censure National Firearms Association

MPs censure National Firearms Association
Conservative MP Shannon Stubbs said her party takes threats against politicians "extremely seriously," citing examples of threats she and her staff have received in the past.

MPs censure National Firearms Association

All B.C. students should be wearing masks due to variants: union

All B.C. students should be wearing masks due to variants: union
Variants of concern have been identified in all seven schools and health officials say testing so far indicates it is linked to the one first identified in the United Kingdom.

All B.C. students should be wearing masks due to variants: union

Gamblers breaking COVID rules face fines: RCMP

Gamblers breaking COVID rules face fines: RCMP
Police say in a statement that officers saw people without masks playing cards inside the business, which was closed to the public at that time.

Gamblers breaking COVID rules face fines: RCMP

Smoking materials link in Abbotsford, B.C., blaze

Smoking materials link in Abbotsford, B.C., blaze
No one was hurt in the Feb. 14 fire, but several cats are missing and all 57 units in the Delair Court complex are destroyed or severely damaged.

Smoking materials link in Abbotsford, B.C., blaze

Canada Post not subject to provincial inspections

Canada Post not subject to provincial inspections
The president of the national union representing postal workers said consistent standards should be applied to all workplaces, noting that the outbreak has had an "enormous impact on all postal workers."

Canada Post not subject to provincial inspections

Tighter border control measures come into effect

Tighter border control measures come into effect
At the Montreal-Pierre Elliott Trudeau International Airport, some travellers arriving on a flight from Brussels spoke of disconnected calls and hours or even days waiting on the line to make a reservation.

Tighter border control measures come into effect