Some B.C. teachers get invitations for booster shots, others still waiting

One week before in-person learning is set to resume for British Columbia grade school students, the majority of teachers and support staff haven’t received their COVID-19 booster shots.

The province has begun sending booster invitations to 800,000 people who are at least six months past their second vaccine dose. Most teachers and school support staff meet that criteria, because they were given priority access to their first doses. Some have been invited to book, but others, like Annie Ohana, are still waiting.

“Nothing, I’ve received nothing,” said Ohana, who’s a department head at a secondary school in Surrey.

“So now people who haven’t been invited, including myself, are continuously checking, because people who are younger than us with shorter time periods are getting their invites.”

Secondary school teacher Dave McCristall got his invitation to book on Saturday. But his wife, who is also a teacher more than six months past her second vaccine, has not. While he expects it’s coming soon, he wonders when she’ll be able to get an appointment.

“My concern for teachers is a lot of us are at around six and a half, seven months and there isn’t going to be a ton of availability based on what I saw when I looked in the portal,” said McCristall.

While there are many vaccine appointments available in Metro Vancouver, most are for mid-to-late January.

Teachers would like to see vaccine in pop-up clinics inside schools this week for educators and support staff, before students return to the classroom on Jan. 10.

“Using the schools during this first week where classes are, for the most part, not in session would be a great way to us for us to catch the population up,” Ohana said.

Burnaby elementary school teacher Jennifer Heighton agrees.

“I think that would be phenomenal if they could do that, because you know it does take two weeks for the vaccine to take effect. And so the sooner it’s done, the better. This would be really efficient, and a good way of making sure teachers got booster doses quickly,” said Heighton, who would feel much more comfortable returning to the classroom after getting a third dose.

If most teachers and support staff return to the classroom without having been boosted, B.C. Teachers Federation president Teri Mooring believes there will be many school closures due to staff shortages caused by illness.

“You know, we have heard (provincial health officer) Dr. (Bonnie) Henry say schools are reflective of the communities that they’re in. If that’s the case, with the high numbers we are seeing, we are quite concerned we are going to see significant school closures in January,” said Mooring.

If the government wants to avoid school closures, teachers say giving them priority access to vaccines is key.

“It’s important that schools are open, and one way to do that is for teachers and support staff to get their booster as soon as possible,” said McCristall.