LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) – Jefferson County Public Schools is hosting at two-day COVID-19 vaccination program for students, tens of thousands of whom are newly eligible for the Pfizer vaccine, at 24 school sites, Superintendent Marty Pollio announced Thursday.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention authorized the Pfizer vaccine for use in 5- to 11-year-old children on Tuesday.
About 48,000 JCPS students are now eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations, and the district plans to offer shots to students and staff at schools throughout Jefferson County on Nov. 13 and Nov. 14, Pollio said. The district is partnering with SPHERE Dx, a company providing COVID-19 testing for JCPS, on the initiative, during which Pfizer booster shots will be available for JCPS staff and families.
A second round of vaccinations will be available on the weekend of Dec. 4 and Dec. 5, according to JCPS.
“I hope that this is our final big step in the fight against COVID,” Pollio said during a news conference at Central High School, one of the sites for the district’s weekend vaccination push. “… Our strong hope now is that every single family member, every single student and staff, 5-year-old all the way up, will now have the opportunity to be vaccinated, and we believe that will be a game changer for us.”
The following school sites will host vaccination clinics Nov. 13 and Nov. 14 from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. as part of the district’s initiative:
- Academy @ Shawnee, 4001 Herman St.
- Carter Traditional Elementary, 3600 Bohne Ave.
- Central High School, 1130 W. Chestnut St.
- Eastern High School, 12400 Old Shelbyville Road
- Fairdale High School, 1001 Fairdale Road
- Grace James Academy, 1615 W. Broadway
- Greenwood Elementary, 5801 Greenwood Road
- Iroquois High School, 4615 Taylor Blvd.
- Jacob Elementary, 3701 E. Wheatmore Drive
- Jeffersontown High School, 9600 Old Six Mile Lane
- Kammerer Middle School, 7315 Wesboro Road
- Male High School, 4409 Preston Highway
- McFerran Preparatory Academy, 1900 S. Seventh St.
- Meyzeek Middle School, 828 S. Jackson St.
- Marion C. Moore School, 6415 Outer Loop
- Newburg Middle School, 4901 Exeter Ave.
- Newcomer Academy, 3741 Pulliam Drive
- Ramsey Middle School, 6409 Gellhaus Lane
- Seneca High School, 3510 Goldsmith Lane
- Shelby Traditional Academy, 735 Ziegler St.
- Southern High School, 8620 Preston Highway
- Valley High School, 10200 Dixie Highway
- Waggener High School, 330 S. Hubbards Lane
- Western High School, 2501 Rockford Lane
JCPS families and staff interested in the district’s vaccination drive can register here with the enrollment code KY85104, and a limited number of walk-in appointments will be available.
The push to increase vaccinations among JCPS students comes as COVID-19 caseloads continue to decline in Jefferson County and throughout Kentucky, though dozens of the state's 120 counties are areas with high transmission rates.
Jefferson County's COVID-19 incidence rate was 21.6 cases per 100,000 residents, down from 24 cases per 100,000 a week prior.
Pollio said the district has not discussed mandatory vaccinations for students, noting that JCPS now requires staff to either get vaccinated against COVID-19 or undergo weekly testing. WDRB News has requested data on the selections of district teachers and employees after Monday's deadline passed.
JCPS does not plan to track how many students have been vaccinated against COVID-19, Pollio said. The district needed about four weeks to implement the new COVID-19 vaccination or testing requirement for employees, he said.
"I don't see at any time right now that we will be tracking which students have it and which don't," he said.
Other school districts in Kentuckiana are weighing their options after the CDC expanded eligibility for the Pfizer vaccine this week.
Leaders with Greater Clark County Schools are consulting with the local health department about a vaccination drive, but nothing has been scheduled, Renee Markoski, executive assistant to Superintendent Mark Laughner, said in an email to WDRB News.
New Albany Floyd County Schools Superintendent Brad Snyder said in a statement that the school corporation is letting the Floyd County Health Department and local pediatricians "lead the way" on vaccinating newly eligible children against COVID-19.
NAFCS has had some talks with the health department about providing space for vaccination clinics after the initial rollout of child vaccinations, he said.
"That has not been finalized and will not happen in the early stages," Snyder said.
Lori McDowell, communications director for Oldham County Schools, said the district is waiting to hear back from the local health department on holding vaccination clinics.
Bullitt County Public Schools does not plan to host vaccination clinics, said Kali Ervin, the district's communications director.
"However, we will work with local providers to give our families and students the opportunity to be vaccinated should they wish to be," Ervin said in an email to WDRB News.
JCPS is among school districts that have continued to require anyone inside schools to wear masks in most settings as part of their COVID-19 mitigation strategies.
Pollio said the district will follow data, namely local COVID-19 caseloads and student vaccinations, in determining whether to recommend the Jefferson County Board of Education ease restrictions currently in place.
However, he cautioned that the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic made it "very difficult to predict what's on the horizon." He noted that caseloads dropped during the summer before another wave of infections struck Kentucky and other states throughout the U.S. as the delta variant rapidly spread.
"I can't necessarily say we think it's over with," Pollio said. "We see numbers declining pretty quickly right now, which is good news for us. We see less contact tracing and quarantining."
"We think yes, I can make a recommendation when that time becomes appropriate based on the number of students that are fully vaccinated and the numbers are continuing to decline, so I think that's a real positive that we could look forward to and hopefully that happens," he continued.
Pollio said the weekend clinics are the first step of the district's latest student vaccination drive and that JCPS may offer COVID-19 shots during school hours if necessary.
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