HSTA survey: 52% of members have received one or two vaccine doses

A slim 52-percent majority of members who completed a Hawaii State Teachers Association vaccination survey during Institute this week reported receiving one or two doses of coronavirus vaccines; a sign that progress has been made, but there’s still a long way to go.

The HSTA appreciates members’ willingness to reply to our Institute survey and share their status regarding receipt of the COVID-19 vaccination. HSTA had 11,088 responses to our survey taken this past week and the results are as follows:

Please show up for your appointment

Vaccination appointments are by registration only. Each point of distribution (POD) is doing its best to ensure no vaccines are wasted. Please make sure you keep your appointment. It is so important to make sure no vaccines are wasted. In addition, please don’t show up without an appointment.

Did you respond to the HIDOE vaccination survey?

Last month, all public school employees were invited to complete an HIDOE survey regarding their interest in receiving a vaccine. As of Feb. 12, the HIDOE reported that more than 9,050 teachers have responded to the survey. If for some reason you missed replying to the survey, it isn’t too late, the DOE is still allowing employees to submit a request to get vaccinated.

Once an employee replies to the survey, the HIDOE will review and send a verification email back within one week, confirming that the employee’s name has been passed on to the Department of Health. If you have submitted the survey more than one week ago and have not yet received a confirmation email from the HIDOE please resubmit your survey, it is likely that you mistyped your email or contact information

Did you get an email to book an appointment?

Lists of employees who want a vaccine have been provided to the DOH, who will then coordinate with health care providers in the respective geographic areas around the state who are working to stand up points of distribution (POD) in the community. Normally a POD is not at a medical facility. Those in charge of the POD reach out to the CAS for that geographic area and work with them on contacting employees.

Once there is the availability of appointments (remember vaccine doses are limited) employees will receive an email to sign up for a slot to receive their first dose. That email could come from a couple of different places, any of the following could occur.

• The POD gets the contact information from the DOH and directly contacts employees via email. (email from non-HIDOE account)
• The CAS gets info on sign up from POD and sends out info to employees from CAS level. (email comes from CAS)
• The CAS gets info on sign up from POD and sends it to principals who send out info to employees. (email comes from the principal).

Please make sure to regularly check your email provided on the survey, including your spam folder (just in case it went there). Reply as quickly as possible as the health providers are trying to book appointments quickly and fill up every slot.

HIDOE allows employees up to 2 hours off to receive vaccine

After the HSTA advocated for its members to receive paid time to get their COVID-19 vaccines, School Superintendent Christina Kishimoto sent a memo authorizing two hours of paid time so HIDOE employees can receive the vaccine. Please note, charter school employees should consult their administration.

Tools for after you receiving the COVID-19 vaccine: V-Safe and VAERS

After receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, you can register for and use V-Safe, a smartphone-based tool, to help report any potential side effects and for personal health check-ins. If you do not have access to a smartphone, you can report an adverse event by calling VAERS at 1-800-822-7967. Learn more here.

Masks and social distancing after vaccination

Please continue to wear a mask and follow social distancing guidelines after receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. All public school campuses and facilities still have masking, distancing, and other mitigation measures in place. While the vaccine assists you in developing protection against being infected, the current vaccines require two doses. Medical experts are still researching if the vaccines prevent you from passing on COVID-19 as you can still carry the virus even if you are immune to it.

HSTA members all fall within the Phase 1B priority group

HSTA members and other public education employees fall within priority group 1b. The Hawaii COVID-19 Vaccination Plan prioritizes individuals in phase 1b to maximize benefits and minimize harm to both the individual recipients and the overall community.