Ventura County aiming to have all school employees receive first dose of vaccine by end of March

Ventura County on Wednesday announced a new goal of providing all school employees with their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by the end of March, which is significantly sooner than had originally been anticipated.

"We are very gratified to see that the people who work in our schools are receiving high priority for vaccinations in Ventura County," said Dr. Cesar Morales, Deputy Superintendent for the Ventura County Office of Education. "A fully functioning school system is one of the keys to getting our lives back to normal. The sooner we can get school employees vaccinated, the sooner we will be able to bring all of our students back to the classroom."

The county's office of education said the goal will be accomplished by working with local health care providers to administer vaccinations to educators in addition to using the county’s existing vaccination infrastructure.

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Effective immediately, school employees are eligible to make vaccination appointments on the county’s website at www.venturacountyrecovers.org/vaccine-information.

Specifics on the vaccinations that will be administered separately by health care providers are still being finalized. School administrators will be sharing the details directly with their employees as they become available, the office of education stated.

School employees will need to show proof of employment, such as a pay stub, in order to receive their vaccinations. Relatives of school employees and school volunteers are not eligible to be vaccinated at this time.

For the latest information on COVID-19 and Ventura County schools, please visit www.vcoe.org/covid-19.