Henrico Schools will offer vaccinations in some schools after all

Last week, it appeared Henrico Schools officials were not planning to offer COVID-19 vaccinations in the county’s public schools before the school year ends June 17.

But Sunday afternoon, school system spokesman Andy Jenks told the Citizen that in fact the system will offer them at middle schools before the end of the school year and during the system’s Summer Academy programs at middle school sites in July.

The Pfizer vaccine earned emergency use authorization for children 12 to 15 last week from the Food and Drug Administration and the Centers for Disease Control, and Virginia Superintendent for Public Instruction James Lane Thursday said he had urged all local superintendents in the state to make the vaccine available to students in schools before the end of the school year.

But during a press briefing with local media members Thursday morning, Richmond and Henrico Health Districts Nurse Manager Amy Popovich said that those two localities had opted not to conduct in-school vaccinations because most students are not attending school in person. (In Henrico, only about about 40% are, while in Richmond the total is fewer than 1,000 students.)

“Rather than vaccinating in school, we’re focused on vaccinating where kids live,” Popovich said, referring to public walk-up vaccination events planned from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 19, 20, 26 and 27 at Richmond Raceway, as well as other events at George Wythe High School, Virginia Union and elsewhere in the area.

Later Thursday during a Henrico School Board meeting, Chief of Staff Beth Teigen and School Nurse Supervisor Robin Gilbert also referenced the events at Richmond Raceway as opportunities for students to be vaccinated. Neither woman mentioned any plans for vaccinations to occur in schools.
During the meeting, Tuckahoe District School Board member Marcie Shea referenced the raceway events and noted that some students might only be able to attend one during school hours.

“If that’s the only opportunity that some of the students have to get vaccines, would that be an excused absence from school?” she asked Teigen.

“Absolutely, we will work with families,” Teigen said.

Sunday, though, Jenks told the Citizen that officials are planning to offer vaccinations in schools, too.

“We remain committed to making vaccines available quickly and efficiently to our staff and students (as various age groups become eligible),” he wrote in an email. “We feel our track record for doing this speaks for itself. While our immediate efforts to get students 12 and older vaccinated as soon as possible are focused on the Raceway’s already-established mass vaccination effort this Wednesday and Thursday, it’s fair to say we’re still planning on making the vaccine available in our middle schools, too, in order to make access to the vaccine as convenient and equitable as we can.”

In a subsequent email Monday, Jenks indicated that officials weren't ready to make the announcement about in-school vaccinations last week and instead focused their efforts on directing families to the opportunities at the raceway.

"In doing so, we missed a chance to at least say school-based vaccinations are something we’re working on, and that we want to make happen," he wrote Monday.

School officials will coordinate with the RHHD in order to meet demand while minimizing waste, Jenks wrote, by sending only the number of doses to a school that it already knows it will use.

“Henrico County already has a fast, efficient vaccination operation at the Raceway that’s been the envy of the region since it first opened back in January,” he wrote. “Families of those 12 and older who wish to show up and get their vaccine can do so. Families may also visit their doctor or a pharmacy close to their home. When our schools have vaccine available, we’ll be back in touch to let our families know, too.”