\u00a0<\/p>\n
CONTACT: Lora Rakowski, 443-797-9883
Lora.Rakowski@maryland.gov<\/p>\n
\u00a0 BALTIMORE, MD \u2013 Maryland Schools Superintendent Karen B. Salmon, Ph.D. requested that the Maryland Department of Health include teachers, school staff and early child care professionals as the first priority in the plan to start COVID-19 vaccinations for essential employees in Maryland.<\/p>\n Acknowledging many factors influencing the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines, \u201cthe safety and education of our children demand immediate attention,\u201d said State Superintendent Karen B. Salmon, Ph.D. in a letter addressed to Dr. Jinlene Chan, Maryland Department of Health Acting Deputy Secretary of Public Health Services.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is essential that we return to full or hybrid instructional models for the overall wellbeing and success of our prekindergarten through grade 12 students. Prolonged school closures have resulted in our children experiencing diminished academic achievement and social-emotional distress,\u201d said State Superintendent Karen B. Salmon, Ph.D. \u201cWe care about all of our education and child care professionals, many of whom have continued to work on the frontline throughout the pandemic, and we are requesting that they be prioritized for the COVID-19 vaccine in the earliest stages of distribution to essential employees.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cContinued school closings impact all of our children, especially those in underserved communities and vulnerable to abuse,\u201d said Clarence C. Crawford, President of the Maryland State Board of Education. \u201cPrioritizing distribution of this vaccine to our teachers and school staff will help expedite the return of full in-person instruction for our students.\u201d<\/p>\n The request includes early child care workers who are providing critical education and care services. \u201cChild care professionals have played a crucial role in the State\u2019s frontline pandemic response and recovery efforts,\u201d said Dr. Salmon. \u201cThe safety of these programs must be maintained to protect child care staff and the families they serve.\u201d<\/p>\n Dr. Salmon praised Dr. Chan and the Maryland Department of Health for \u201ctireless efforts in securing the public health and safety of our schools and child care facilities. \u201cOur partnership is especially invaluable now,\u201d said Dr. Salmon, \u201cas we redefine education and child care environments as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.\u201d<\/p>\n The Maryland Department of Health submitted its COVID-19 Vaccination Plan to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on October 16, 2020. The plan includes workers deemed essential in critical industries, including education.<\/p>\n # # #<\/p>\n Superintendent Requests Vaccine Prioritization for Teachers, School and Child Care Staff 12.15.20<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00a0
\u2018A First Priority\u2019 in the COVID-19 Vaccination Essential Plan Tier<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n
\nCONTACT: Lora Rakowski, 443-797-9883Lora.Rakowski@maryland.gov
\n\u00a0\u2018A First Priority\u2019 in the COVID-19 Vaccination Essential Plan Tier
\nBALTIMORE, MD \u2013 Maryland Schools Superintendent Karen B. Salmon, Ph.D. requested that the …Learn more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":56,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38,5,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-50241","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mediaalert","category-news","category-newsreleases"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50241","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/56"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50241"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50241\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":50632,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50241\/revisions\/50632"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50241"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50241"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/msde\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50241"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}