Superintendent Lewis received his vaccine Friday.
(New Orleans – March 12, 2021) – Exactly one year after New Orleans first went into lockdown and all public schools closed to in-person learning as the COVID-19 pandemic surged, NOLA Public Schools (NOLA-PS) marked a new milestone: More than 3,300 public school teachers, educators, and staff had received their first round vaccinations through local health partners in just under three weeks.
Today, the last round of educators and administrators interested in being inoculated received their first dose of the vaccine at NOLA-PS' Central Office on the Westbank. NOLA-PS is proud to be celebrating the moment with Children's Hospital of New Orleans (CHNOLA) in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic.
"We are excited that more than 3,300 of our educators and staff have taken advantage of the vaccine roll-out we coordinated with our health partners," said NOLA-PS Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr. said "The work they do every day for our students is important, and the vaccine is vitally important to help protect them, their students, and their families."
"It's very encouraging to see so many educators and staff sign up and receive their first dose of the vaccine. It's another hopeful sign that the end of this pandemic is within reach," said Dr. Leron Finger, Chief Quality Officer at Children's Hospital New Orleans. "We are proud of the partnerships we've built to help protect our school communities as we get through this, together."
Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr. was the last educator to be vaccinated Friday.
"I wanted our dedicated teachers and staff on the front lines, in our school buildings, to receive the vaccine first. Their health and safety is of utmost importance, and this will help them feel more comfortable and safe in keeping our students in the classroom," said Dr. Lewis. "I am excited to have received my shot today, and I encourage everyone to consider doing the same with guidance from their doctor."
NOLA-PS used a randomized order of school sites to schedule teachers and staff for vaccinations. Teachers and staff interested in the vaccine registered to receive the vaccine via the NOLA PS K-12 School Staff Survey. NOLA PS only tracks those school staff that received the vaccine through school based partnerships though many more school staff received vaccinations through local pharmacies, city and parish managed mass vaccination sites, and other vaccination opportunities.
NOLA-PS will continue to leverage our relationships with our healthcare partners, including the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH), CHNOLA, New Orleans East Hospital, and others, to help our schools schedule vaccinations for educators and staff who may decide they would like to get vaccinated in the near future.
We also encourage our NOLA-PS parents and families to contact their own health care providers to discuss their eligibility to be vaccinated.
Meanwhile, NOLA-PS will continue to rely on the safety guidelines in its Roadmap to Reopening that have mitigated spread within our schools and allowed us to be one of the few school districts in the country to maintain in-person learning for much of this school year.
For more information about the COVID-19 vaccine, visit www.lcmchealth.org/coronavirus/.
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About NOLA Public Schools: NOLA Public Schools is the public school district for Orleans Parish. It includes the district's administration and elected school board, known as the Orleans Parish School Board. NOLA Public Schools currently oversees 76 public schools and is led by Superintendent Dr. Henderson Lewis, Jr.
For more information, visit www.nolapublicschools.com. For updates, follow NOLA Public Schools on Facebook @NOLAPublicSchools, Instagram @nolaps and Twitter @NOLAPSchools.