Coronavirus vaccines are now rolling out across the country, and health-care workers and older people have been among the first to get their shots. Teachers and other school staff members are also on many priority lists, and efforts are well underway in some places to get them vaccinated quickly, too.
But that’s not true everywhere. Exactly where educators as a group fall within phased vaccination plans—and the speed with which those phases are happening—varies greatly from state to state.
While the Centers for Disease Control has put out guidance on how to prioritize different groups of people for the vaccine, states can ultimately make their own decisions on rollout.
To keep readers updated on where things stand, Education Week is tracking plans for vaccinating K-12 educators across all 50 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
The data below were collected from official government communications and websites, rather than from local news outlets or other sources. In some cases, that means the local landscape may look a little different than what the data show. For instance, as of Jan. 15, vaccines were not available to teachers under Indiana’s state plan, and yet we know that in some smaller communities there teachers were offered vaccines at the end of December because there were extra doses.
As of Jan. 15, at least 12 states have made some teachers eligible to receive the coronavirus vaccine.
Since this information is changing rapidly, please note the date at which the information was last verified for each state. We will do our best to update on a rolling basis.
For more information on vaccines and schools, see these frequently asked questions.
Map: Teacher Eligibility for Vaccines By State
Table: Search Vaccine Eligibility in Your State
Data Notes/Methodology:
- This review is focused on K-12 educators, and does not include school nurses, who are often included in a different phase with other health-care workers.
- Some states may not be prioritizing vaccine distribution by profession. Those are listed as “N/A” in the data.
- “Teachers are eligible in some places” means local authorities have the power to decide when teachers are eligible for the vaccine or the state has allowed certain regions to start vaccinating educators.
Contact Information
For media or research inquiries about this data, contact [email protected].
How to Cite This Page
Where Teachers Are Eligible for the COVID-19 Vaccine (2021, January 15). Education Week. Retrieved Month Day, Year from www.edweek.org/policy-politics/where-teachers-are-eligible-for-the-covid-19-vaccine/2021/01
