COVID-19-Educator Vaccines

Resources

How does an Educator Register for the COVID-19 Vaccine?

Our partners at Maine CDC have created a handy resource to help locate the most current vaccination sites and registration information.

Get the Latest Vaccine Information from Maine CDC

Get the Latest Vaccine Information from U.S. CDC

Am I Eligible as a School or Childcare Employee?

On March 2, 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a Secretarial Directive ordering COVID-19 vaccine providers to make eligible and administer vaccines to “workers at pre-primary, primary, and secondary schools, 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.” Nationwide, this eligibility is effective immediately. Maine has aligned its vaccination plan with this new requirement.

See Maine CDC's Frequently Asked Questions

Why Should I Get the COVID-19 Vaccine?

The purpose of the COVID-19 vaccination is to keep you from getting COVID-19 and reduce serious illness and hospitalization. All approved COVID-19 vaccines currently available in the United States have been shown to be highly effective at preventing COVID-19. The three current COVID-19 vaccines that have Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) have been carefully evaluated in clinical trials and deemed effective at reducing the serious outcomes of getting Covid-19. Getting vaccinated yourself may also protect people around you, particularly people at increased risk for severe illness from COVID-19.
Getting vaccinated reduces your risk of contracting COVID-19 if exposed. An individual who has completed a COVID-19 vaccination series and is exposed to a COVID-19 case does not need to quarantine, so long as the exposure is more than 14 days after the individual’s completion of the COVID-19 vaccine series.

Getting Back to Normal is going to Take All of Our Tools

Still Have Questions? Check out the FAQ from Maine CDC

Our partners at Maine CDC and U.S. CDC have created a Frequently Asked Questions page for you.

See Maine CDC's FAQs

See U.S. CDC's FAQs

COVID-19 vaccination is a safer way to help build protection

COVID-19 can have serious, life-threatening complications, and there is no way to know how a diagnosis of COVID-19 will affect you. If you do get sick, you could spread the disease to friends, family, and others around you. Getting COVID-19 may offer some natural protection, or immunity. Current evidence suggests that re-infection with the virus that causes COVID-19 is uncommon in the 90 days after initial infection. Experts don’t know for sure how long this protection lasts, and the risk of severe illness and death from COVID-19 far outweighs any benefits of natural immunity. COVID-19 vaccination will help protect you by creating an antibody (immune system) response without having to experience sickness. Both natural immunity and immunity produced by a vaccine are important parts of COVID-19 disease that experts are continuing to learn more about.

COVID-19 vaccination is a crucial tool to help stop the pandemic. While wearing masks and social distancing help reduce the chances of contracting COVID-19, these measures are not enough. Vaccines work with your immune system to prepare it to fight the virus if exposed. The combination of getting vaccinated and following CDC’s recommendations to protect yourself and others will offer the best protection from COVID-19. Stopping a pandemic requires using all the tools we have available.

The following considerations are to minimize impacts of possible post-vaccination reactions in Maine Schools. Some of these have already been considered in the planning of school staff opportunities for vaccination.
Staff considerations:
•   Schedule vaccine preceding 1-2 days off in the event of mild side effects.
•   Read all vaccine information provided by clinic before the appointment and get questions answered ahead of time.
•   Bring insurance information and school ID to your appointment. The vaccine is free, but the clinic may charge insurance companies for a small administration fee.
Administrative considerations:
•   Stagger delivery/participation of vaccines so that not all staff in a building are vaccinated at the same time.
•   Be aware of potential short-term symptoms after vaccination as well as options for mitigating them if symptoms arise (e.g., use of ibuprofen or acetaminophen for localized pain).
• Develop a strategy to encourage timely assessment of staff with systemic signs and symptoms post-vaccination. This should include providing options for testing.