Fort Worth, Arlington school districts partner with providers to get employees vaccinated

The Fort Worth and Arlington school districts have partnered with Texas Health Resources and the Arlington Fire Department to vaccinate teachers.

On Wednesday, the state expanded those eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine to include “those who work in pre-primary, primary, and secondary schools, as well as Head Start and Early Head Start programs (including teachers, staff, and bus drivers) and those who work as or for licensed child care providers, including center-based and family care providers.”

About 3,500 Arlington Independent School District staff, which includes teachers, substitutes, part-time staff and others will be vaccinated Monday at Esports Stadium Arlington, said Anita Foster, a district spokesperson. The school district has about 10,000 employees, 20% of whom have already received a dose from other providers. That number could reach 50% come Monday.

Employees are still registering with the school district.

“We are so grateful,” Foster said. “We didn’t want to miss it.”

The employees getting vaccinated Monday will receive the one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, said Richard Fegan, an Arlington Fire Department spokesperson. They will have 6,000 doses of the new vaccine from the federally funded site at Globe Life Park and AT&T Stadium.

The goal is to vaccinate every Arlington ISD employee who wants a vaccine by the end of Monday, Fegan said.

Texas Health Resources will vaccinate Fort Worth school district employees, officials said. Fort Worth ISD teachers, substitutes and part-time employees will register with the district and then they will receive an appointment from Texas Health.

Tarrant County Public Health officials encourage teachers to register on their website. They should mark their industry as “education” and include their employer’s name.

Public Health has been allocating vaccines roughly equally between groups 1a and 1b — which includes first responders, health workers, those over 65 and those 16 and older with an underlying health condition. But as people queued in phase 1a decrease, the leftover vaccines will be given to teachers, a county spokesperson said.