School staff receive COVID vaccine

Staff members at Lake Roosevelt Schools received COVID-19 vaccines at Safeway in Grand Coulee and at the Okanogan fairgrounds this past week as part of a nationwide effort to vaccinate school staff before the end of the month. 

On March 2, President Joe Biden announced a directive to all states to get every pre-K educator, K-12 teacher, and childcare worker at least one shot of COVID-19 vaccine in the month of March.

Following that announcement, Grand Coulee Dam School District Superintendent Paul Turner said he began working with Okanogan County Public Health in lining up opportunities for staff to receive the vaccine. 

Safeway in Grand Coulee offered the Moderna vaccine last week, and on Friday at the Okanogan Fairgrounds a vaccination station was set up offering the Pfizer vaccine. 

“A big thank you to them for stepping up and helping us get that done,” Turner said about Safeway as well as OCPH. 

He said 42 staff members received the vaccine this past week out of the district’s roughly 120 total employees, adding that others already have had it, while others are unsure about getting it.

“Everybody has had access to it if they wanted it,” Turner said. More people wanted it than not, and the district will continue to help staff members who want the vaccine to get it, he said.

The vaccine offers some peace of mind and may increase educational opportunities. 

“This will give us more security in being able to have staff working more at school, and start looking at other options for more student time,” Turner said. They are looking at options for increasing student in-school time and will present on that topic at the next board meeting.