SPOKANE, Wash. — All Washington teachers, school employees, and licensed childcare workers became eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine on Tuesday.
Governor Jay Inslee made the announcement following a directive from President Joe Biden to prioritize those who work with children, in order to speed up the safe reopening of schools. Previously, most teachers would have to wait several more weeks before becoming eligible.
It's a development Spokane-area teachers have been hoping for for a long time. The last year has been challenging for them.
Tia Rupe is an elementary educator in the Mead School District, where students have been learning in person, but the classrooms are anything but normal.
“It feels like the first year of teaching all over again, plus a mask," said Rupe. "Which is difficult in and of itself, when you’re trying to teach kindergartners how to say a sound and they can’t see your mouth."
Leigh Hancock teaches 6th grade in Spokane Public Schools, which just recently went to full in-person learning after months of online instruction.
"It was really hard to really make that solid connection," Hancock said of virtual learning. "I did my very very best.”
The news that teachers are now vaccine-eligible didn't come with many details. The Department of Health still has plenty of logistics to iron out. It was welcome news nonetheless.
“It’s just a huge relief," said Hancock. "I can’t even explain how happy I felt when someone texted me the KREM link, and I was like 'oh my gosh.'”
“I was so excited," said Rupe. "My mom sent me a little text of the actual news report today, and I was jumping for joy.”
Washington's state school superintendent, Chris Reykdal, said in a statement that every school employee should be able to get at least one shot by the end of this month.
And while being vaccinated won’t remedy all the challenges of teaching right now, it’ll certainly lift a heavy burden.
“I would really hate for any student to see their teacher become sick and to be home for 14 days or longer," said Hancock.
“To be able to go to work and to do my job the way that I would like to do it, and not have that extra layer of stress at the back of my head at all times – 'am I the COVID carrier or the COVID spreader?' – that’s huge," said Rupe. "That is absolutely huge, and I am so excited, and I will be first in line tomorrow morning to make phone calls to get something scheduled somewhere."
Hancock says anything that adds even a little bit to a sense of normalcy goes a long way.
“Being around kids, it fills my heart," she said. “We laugh in my classroom every day. So it’s been… it’s just been pure joy.”