Good evening Springfield School District families and staff,
This is Zach McLaughlin, your Superintendent of Schools.
I have a quick announcement and then some additional information about vaccination clinics tomorrow here in Springfield.
First, if you were lucky enough to get an appointment for your child at one of the two clinics scheduled for schools in Springfield tomorrow, please note that those appointments have been moved from Elm Hill and Union Street School. Instead these will happen at Riverside Middle School’s gymnasium.
Second, I want to explain why I said “lucky.” We know how difficult the last few years have been for families in the district. This is particularly true for elementary families. With no possibility of vaccination, many students have been in a repeated cycle of potential unprotected exposure and then quaratining. This cycle has limited educational opportunities and strained families who need to find childcare and maintain work schedules.
Knowing this struggle and anticipating the approval for vaccines for younger students, we worked with our local Department of Health to set up clinics at both Elm and Union. Thanks to the hard work of our COVID Coordinator, our school nurses, and our building principals, we were posed to be amongst the first clinics in the state. We were promised two clinics that would be exclusively for our students. Then at the last minute and without notice to us, state level leaders opened up our clinics to everyone in the state on a first-come first-serve basis. As a result, the clinics scheduled for tomorrow at the two schools are fully booked and now will have less than ten percent of the recipients from Springfield. To say that we are disappointed and angry at this disservice to our community is a vast understatement.
In light of this fact, we felt it unethical and logistically challenging to host these clinics inside the two schools. We contemplated the cancellation of these clinics, but we ultimately agreed to shift these clinic appointments to Riverside where we would have appropriate parking and could isolate the vaccine clinic from the rest of the building.
Needless to say, we will be working hard to find ways to remedy this situation and will continue to advocate on behalf of the families in our community. In the meantime, I can remind all that there are some upcoming community clinics that you could take advantage of, and I will include those dates and times in an email that accompanies this call.
Thanks for your time and attention and know that we will continue to push on your behalf.
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Here is the information on the Community Clinics:
The CDC has approved the Pfizer vaccine for our 5-11 year old population and clinics are scheduled to begin Monday, November 8th. The Vermont Department of Health will be holding clinics for 5-11 year old children throughout the state.
Registration:
- Families wishing to register their child should go to the following link https://vermont.force.com/events/s/selfregistration. If the child has been tested for COVID-19 through the health department, they should already have a registration profile on this site. If they don’t have a registration profile, families will need to create one. Parents who have an account should link their children as dependents by going to their own account rather than creating a separate registration with each child. This will negate the need for a separate, personal email per child.
- Parents who have no internet access can call to register their child at the following number: 855-722-7878 trained operators will go through the registration questions with you.
- Here is the fact sheet about the Pfizer vaccine for 5-11 year olds: Pfizer vaccine information
- Informational forums on pediatric vaccines are available through the American Academy of Pediatrics for Vermont (AAPVT.) These are accessible at the following website: http://www.aapvt.org/news/join-us-conversation-about-covid-19-vaccines-children
While there are clinics at a variety of locations across the state, here are some in Springfield.
Open Community Clinics offering pediatric COVID vaccines:
11/09/21 Rescue Inc, Springfield VT-Riverside Middle School, 13 Fairgrounds Rd 7pm-8pm
11/12/21 Rescue Inc, Springfield VT-Riverside Middle School, 13 Fairgrounds Rd 7pm-8pm
11/16/21 Rescue Inc, Springfield VT-Riverside Middle School, 13 Fairgrounds Rd 7pm-8pm
11/19/21 Rescue Inc, Springfield VT-Riverside Middle School, 13 Fairgrounds Rd 7pm-8pm
11/23/21 Rescue Inc, Springfield VT - Riverside Middle School 13 Fairgrounds Rd 7pm-8pm