About 10 Percent of PUSD Employees Have Received COVID-19 Vaccination

Since district officials began inoculating its employees three weeks ago, the Pasadena Unified School District has vaccinated about 10 percent of its employees. 

“PUSD has vaccinated about 250 employees so far,” said district spokesperson Hilda Ramirez Horvath,  

The district began vaccinating its more than 2,400 employees in late January and hopes to have all workers vaccinated by mid-March. According to School Board President Scott Phelps, the unsteady distribution of the vaccine has caused problems for the city, which receives its doses of the vaccines from the state.

“We, like the city, LA/Dodger Stadium, etc., just aren’t receiving enough vaccines,” Phelps told Pasadena Now on Thursday. “So that’s our big problem. Another issue was we had to change our plan midstream from vaccinating tiers of employees to focusing on the over 65 per [Gov. Gavin] Newsom and the state. So yeah, we are not where we should be, sadly, with regards to enough progress on vaccinations.”

On Monday, Newsom said the ability to vaccinate teachers in large numbers by public health departments has been impacted by the scarce amounts of the vaccine. 

PUSD employees are receiving the Moderna vaccine, according to a statement released by the district. 

Vaccination clinics are limited to school and district office employees. PUSD will eventually provide vaccines to all of its employees, including teachers, school district workers, and substitutes, according to the state’s prioritization.

“While the vaccine is voluntary, we are strongly encouraging all PUSD employees to get vaccinated,” said PUSD Superintendent Brian McDonald. “Getting the vaccine will help protect our staff and students as schools prepare to return to in-person learning.”

On Wednesday, City News Service reported Los Angeles County will expand vaccinations to an array of essential workers, including teachers, in two to three weeks. 

Only a fraction of residents 65 and older have received a COVID-19 vaccine and supplies of the medication remain woefully low.

The move follows a call by Newsom in late January for shots to be offered to workers in three categories: education/child care; food and agriculture; and emergency services and law enforcement.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) said last week that schools can open without teachers being vaccinated. 

The CDC does not mandate schools reopening. President Joe Biden called for schools to reopen, but reiterated the need to reopen safely.

This week, parents in Pasadena sent letters to the City Council calling on the city to open schools, but that decision cannot be made by the council.

“I am a mom of two and I implore you to consider the severe mental and physical impacts this shutdown is having on our kids and young people,” wrote Caroline Botsford in a letter to the City Council.  

No official date has been set for the return of students to campuses, but the district “is prepared to open in phases for in-person learning when it is safe to do so,” said a district statement.

“We can now see some light at the end of what has been a very dark tunnel, and our future starts now,” McDonald said. 

Mayor Victor Gordo said the matter needed to be discussed at a joint meeting of the school district and the City Council which is scheduled for March 1.