CHESAPEAKE, Va. – Chesapeake Public Schools started receiving COVID-19 vaccinations on Wednesday.
Seven hundred teachers and staff poured into Deep Creek High School over the course of the day. Superintendent Dr. Jared Cotton said they have another 700 staff members scheduled to receive their vaccinations on Friday.
He also said they hurried to come up with a schedule when they got word about the opportunity.
“Some of the dates we have scheduled would not have been the dates we had selected, but we can’t be picky at this point,” said Superintendent Cotton.
Kimi Stevens, a representative for the Chesapeake Health Department told News 3, “We order. They let us know how many are coming in and from there, we plan our clinics to make sure we use every unit of that vaccine.”
Among the first to be vaccinated was Orion Burke, the Orchestra Director for Crestwood Middle School.
“I think it’s my duty to try to protect others. I have a wife who is high risk with cystic fibrosis, and I have a newborn at home, and my mom is diabetic, so I would hate to have any chance of bringing anything back to affect one of them,” Burke explained.
The next vaccination scheduled for Chesapeake Schools is Friday, January 15 and will be at Oscar Smith High School. Cotton said the 700 reservations have been filled.
For residents of Chesapeake who have questions about when they can receive a vaccination, Stevens suggests checking the Chesapeake Health Department website.
In the meantime, Virginia Beach City Public Schools is expecting its vaccines on January 25. School officials say they anticipate receiving 500 a day for the first three days of that week. They’ve just sent out a form to employees asking if they would like the vaccine, and they plan to make a schedule accordingly.
