Gov. Cooper Announces Date When Teachers Can Receive COVID Vaccines

A week after strongly urging schools to reopen for in-person learning, Gov. Roy Cooper announced when North Carolina educators can expect to receive coronavirus vaccinations.

Starting February 24, around 240,000 teachers, childcare providers, and school personnel will be eligible to get vaccinated as part of Group 3 in the state's vaccine rollout plan. Vaccinations will then expand to the rest of Group 3, including additional frontline essential workers, on March 10.

"I am grateful to all of our educators and school personnel for going above and beyond in this pandemic to care for children and help them continue to learn," said Gov. Cooper. "Starting with a smaller number of Group 3 frontline essential workers helps providers streamline distribution effectively and efficiently."

The workers first in line to receive a vaccine includes teachers, principals, childcare workers, custodial and cafeteria staff, bus drivers, and more.

Since Cooper urged schools to reopen last week, more districts have been preparing to welcome more students back into the classroom. Wednesday's announcement addresses some educators' concerns about in-person learning while not having a timeline for when they could get vaccinated.

According to Cooper, North Carolina has administered almost 1.5 million vaccines, and the state is continuing its push to get as many people vaccinated as quickly as possible. In the meantime, he said, residents need to continue following state and CDC guidance on slowing virus spread.

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