Educators immunized at 2 Athens high schools

ATHENS, Ga. - Halo Smart has been eager to get back into her classroom at Athens Career Academy. The high school teacher signed up early and lined up early to receive her first dose of the Pfizer vaccine Wednesday at Clarke Central High School.

"I have been waiting with bated breath. We are very excited to have our vaccines today. It's super important that teachers get them so we can get kids back in classrooms and make sure teachers, parents, and grandparents are safe," said Smart.

Dr. Suzanne Lester is one of many health care providers who coordinated with the Clarke County School District, the county's health department, and the AU-UGA Medical Partnership to plan the vaccine distribution here at Clarke Central and at Cedar Shoals High School. The goal was to get 1,500 educators and school employees immunized by Wednesday evening.

"This is my kid's high school so this is really important to me and we want the teachers to feel safe coming back," said Dr. Lester, who is a medical professor and the director of a free mobile clinic in Athens. "Within two to three weeks after the second dose, the CDC recommendation is that if you're exposed to a positive known COVID case and you don't have symptoms, you don't have to quarantine which, for school districts, means their staffing can stay robust," said Dr. Lester.

The second dose of the vaccine is scheduled for March 31 at the same locations. The Clarke County School District's director of counseling said this kind of local access to the vaccine along with an enthusiastic response is a win for everyone in the community.

"It's a huge part of a child's development to have human interaction with caring adults and now we're going to be able to do that and feel so much more safe and confident because we also care about the adults," said Tessa Barbazon.

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