New York school nurses have many questions and concerns about the mRNA COVID-19 Vaccine, including where we, as school-based healthcare professionals, stand in the vaccine prioritization matrix.
Please refer to page 29 of New York State’s COVID-19 Vaccination Program, published October 2020:
The matrix outlines that school staff are in Phase 2 of the distribution schedule, which means we will be one of the first ones to receive the vaccines after the frontline healthcare providers in hospitals and nursing homes.
The following links from the CDC may answer questions that school nurses have regarding the vaccine:
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/different-vaccines/mrna.html
https://www2.cdc.gov/vaccines/ed/covid19/
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/faq.html
Many thanks to Mary Beirne, LLM, BN, RN-BC, NCSN • White Plains Central School District for researching and providing the above information.
Should New York State school nurses wish to contact their legislators to express their thoughts on the vaccine distribution schedule, PPE allocation, or COVID-19 policies, they can be contacted using the links below:
Contact the
New York State Senate
Contact the
New York State Assembly
Contact
Governor
Andrew M. Cuomo
Contact the
New York State Department of Health
