K-12 teachers, other 'critical infrastructure' workers to be eligible for vaccine by March 15

Feb. 26—Missouri's teachers will be among the workers who will become eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine on March 15, Gov. Mike Parson announced Thursday.

Also included in Phase 1B, Tier 3, are child care providers, grocery store employees and workers in the energy, food, communications, information technology, transportation, wastewater and agriculture sectors, all of whom are deemed "critical infrastructure" workers. Activating this tier will make an estimated 550,000 more Missourians eligible for the vaccine, the governor said.

"They are the workers in many of the industries we depend on each day to keep our day-to-day lives operating normally," Parson said during a media briefing.

The state currently offers vaccines to individuals in Phase 1A and tiers 1 and 2 of Phase 1B, which includes nursing home residents and staff, health care workers, first responders, public safety workers, individuals 65 and older, and adults with high-risk health concerns.

Teachers in particular had been urging the state to move them up on the vaccination priority list, as many other states have done. Parson on Thursday said state health officials intentionally focused early vaccination efforts on health care workers and vulnerable populations.

"Throughout our vaccine plan, we have prioritized saving lives, first and foremost," he said.

In an email to the Globe, Joplin Superintendent Melinda Moss said the announcement of the expanded vaccine eligibility is "great news" for teachers and staff.

"Up to this point, only those school employees that qualified as either age 65 (and older) or had qualifying health conditions were eligible for the vaccine, and even at that, we've had quite a waiting list," she said. "Having a larger group eligible for COVID vaccination will be a tremendous help in keeping our staff safe and keeping our schools open and serving the students of Joplin School District."

Most Missouri schools are open for in-person learning even though teachers are not yet being vaccinated. Information from the Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education shows that 463 of Missouri's 557 school districts are operating on-site, though 252 of those offer online options. Sixty-nine districts are using hybrid models, and 25 are online only.

Parson said that if vaccine supply keeps up with demand, the state could activate Phase 2 within perhaps two months. Phase 2 includes disproportionately affected populations and the homeless.

Missouri's vaccination effort will get a boost if the Food and Drug Administration approves the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. A decision is expected soon.

Speaking Thursday during a meeting of Missouri's vaccine advisory committee, Division of Community and Public Health Director Adam Crumbliss said the state currently administers about 120,000 vaccines weekly.

"I would hope to see us get over that 150,000 threshold with Johnson & Johnson coming online," Crumbliss said.

The new vaccine requires just one shot, while the others require two. Crumbliss said the Johnson & Johnson vaccine will be especially helpful for "more transient and less visible" people such as the homeless. It could also be useful at mass vaccination events operated by the Missouri National Guard, he said.

Statewide data indicates 12.3% of Missourians have received at least one vaccine dose, a percentage that ranks in the bottom 10 of all states.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.