States across the country are setting their own priorities for distributing limited quantities of the COVID-19 vaccine. In Idaho, higher education employees are not considered in Group 2.1 of vaccination as they are in other states.
In the University of Idaho’s first Faculty Senate meeting of the spring semester, Provost and Executive Vice President Torrey Lawrence addressed the disparity after receiving “many questions” about why faculty and staff are not included in the same vaccination group as K-12 teachers and staff.
According to Lawrence, President Scott Green is currently in talks with the Idaho State Board of Education and public health officials to learn where university faculty members are on the timeline.
“We are trying to advocate for our people, also realizing that we want the people that need them most to get them first,” Lawrence said.
Public colleges in Florida and West Virginia, two states that treat the two groups the same way in its vaccine priority plan, began vaccinating employees age 50 or above the week of Dec. 28.
Some states, such as California and Georgia, explicitly include higher education workers at the same priority level, Group 2.1, as K-12 teachers.
Idaho, along with seven other states, plans to vaccinate higher education employees in Group 3.
While some UI faculty have already been vaccinated, that is due to circumstances unrelated to their position at the university, Lawrence said.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices provided recommendations to assist with state-level decision making, which call for essential workers, including workers in the education sector, to be included in Group 2.1.
Recommendations for Group 1 focused mostly on health-care workers, including workers at academic medical facilities and residents of long-term care facilities.
Rumors of vaccinations being distributed early for North Idaho College faculty was denied by Panhandle Health District, who said the timeline issued by the Gov. Brad Little’s office is still being followed.
Laura Rumpler, chief communications and government relations officer for North Idaho College, said only a few faculty members of NIC might be vaccinated due to their involvement in the head start program and are K-12 teachers. There were no pushes by the rest of the college’s faculty for vaccination earlier than what is outlined in the timeline, Rumpler said.
Cody Roberts can be reached at arg-news@uidaho.edu or on Twitter @CodyRobReports