KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Johnson County, Kansas, Department of Health and Environment said it will begin vaccinating K-12 teachers and people 65 and older next week.
The county will first focus on special education teachers and staff at the Kansas School for the Deaf.
JCDHE will work in conjunction with Children's Mercy Hospital to facilitate the vaccines for people who work with students. About 1,900 vaccines will be available for teachers.
"These individuals have been at increased risk during this pandemic, both those individuals as well as those students that they work with because of an inability for individuals to be masked," JCDHE epidemiologist Elizabeth Holzschuh said.
School districts will be responsible for identifying who to vaccinate. Teachers interested in receiving a vaccine are encouraged to reach out to their administration.
The county will also work with Olathe Medical Center and Advent Health to administer vaccines for people older than 65 next week.
Initial vaccines will go to people already in the hospital systems. As the county receives more vaccines it hopes to expand efforts to vaccinate people outside of the hospital systems.
JCDHE said this week it gave a first COVID-19 dose to most of the people ages 80 or older in the Phase 2 Tier 1 group in the county.
"I think the good news for us is that this week we achieved that goal," JCHDE director Dr. Sanmi Areola said."We feel like we've vaccinated most of the people in the 80 plus category."
Anyone interested in receiving a vaccine in Phase 2 is still encouraged to fill out a COVID-19 vaccine interest form.
