State Police Trooper Tamia Tucker prepares to receive the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine from Trumbull Public Health Nurse Samantha Cousins Tuesday Jan. 5 at the Center at Priscilla Place. The Health Department will hold a special clinic for school staff later this week.
Donald Eng / Hearst Connecticut MediaTRUMBULL — Several hundred of the town’s public school staff will receive the new Johnson & Johnson vaccine this week, the superintendent said.
Schools Superintendent Martin Semmel said he has coordinated with Health Director Lucienne Bango, and the district now appears to be on pace to get the staff vaccinated within weeks. Although it didn’t look that way as late as Friday.
“At the end of last week, the health department learned that they would only be receiving 200 vaccines, and they wouldn’t have any additional capacity to have a clinic,” Semmel said.
But over the weekend, Bango learned the newly approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine was available, and she requested 1,000 doses. She has since learned that Trumbull was approved for 800, which the department will administer at a special school staff clinic this week. Unlike the earlier Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, the Johnson & Johnson one requires only a single dose instead of two shots several weeks apart. This should increase efficiency, Semmel said.
“That’s really great news,” he said.
Semmel also heard from Hartford HealthCare about running a clinic for school staff and plans to learn more on Tuesday.
“So, with all these options, I’m hopeful that all staff will have some sort of option by the end of the month,” he said.
School staff also have the option of going elsewhere for their vaccinations if they sign up through the Vaccine Administration Management System.
Bango said the more options for vaccinations, the better.
“Even if I could get more vaccines, with a four-person staff, we don’t have the manpower to do any more,” she said. “We had some great volunteers, but now even they are getting tapped out. And some of the volunteers are school nurses, and they’re back in school now.”
In an effort to estimate the demand for vaccinations, Semmel distributed a survey to the public school system’s 1,000 staff members.
Within a few hours, 384 employees had responded. Of the staff members who had not yet been vaccinated, about 80 percent said they wanted to attend the clinic, he said. In addition to teachers, office staff, bus drivers, cafeteria workers, custodians and anyone else who works in the buildings is eligible. Clinic staff will verify the eligibility of each person, Bango said.
“Anyone who comes to it should bring proof of school employment, like a school ID or pay stub,” she said.