YORK COUNTY, S.C. — Every teacher and school staff member in York County who wants a vaccine will have the chance to get one this week as the four school districts partner with the local hospital system to host several mass vaccine clinics this week.
Teachers and staff at Clover, Rock Hill, York, and Fort Mill school districts will all participate in vaccination events at the Piedmont Medical Center vaccine clinic in Rock Hill over the course of the next week.
Some teachers started receiving those vaccines on Wednesday, according to Mychal Frost, a spokesperson for Rock Hill Schools.
Fort Mill is planning to host a mass event for approximately 540 of its 2,100 teachers and staff on Friday. And every one of the employees who said they wanted a vaccine will receive one.
“This is a great opportunity for our district,” said Fort Mill Schools spokesperson Joe Burke. “We would have taken it any way we can get it whether it’s all in one day or spaced out but we were very fortunate to get a one-day opportunity.”
The district is switching to a remote learning format in order to accommodate the first-dose appointments on Friday, March 5, and the second-dose appointments on March 26.
“When the doses are available you need to get people there,” Burke said.
Burke said the goal was to get as many members of their staff vaccinated as possible before the March 15 full return to in-person instruction for middle and high school students. Rock Hill returns middle and high school students to 5-day-a-week instruction on March 22.
“This is just another safety step and another piece toward that goal of getting everybody back in and being comfortable,” Burke said. “It wasn’t a lynchpin to get everybody back but we’re certainly glad that it’s going to take place to get everybody back.”
Burke said there are already hundreds of teachers that have already received a vaccine because of their previous eligibility, or because they secured appointments through other opportunities.
According to Burke, the district plans to track the total number of teachers who have received a vaccine, but the number was not immediately available.
He said it will be helpful to track vaccination status because of the updated guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC now states that if a person is vaccinated, he/she does not have to quarantine after exposure within 90 days of being fully vaccinated.
Burke said vaccines are not mandatory, but they are strongly recommended. Teachers will be encouraged to report their vaccination status.
Have a relative or friend in another state and want to know when they can get vaccinated? Visit NBC News' Plan Your Vaccine site to find out about each state's vaccine rollout plan.