Hundreds of elementary and secondary educators in the Archdiocese of Baltimore began receiving the COVID-19 vaccine the week of Jan. 18, when Maryland entered the rollout’s Phase 1B.
In addition to adults 75 and over and those in assisted living and group homes, that cohort includes those in “education and continuity of government.”
“Looking at the general population, they (teachers) are in a high-risk group,” said Dr. Ralph Lebron, who works in internal medicine at Mercy Medical Center and is helping lead its vaccine program. “They are in close, face-to-face interaction with children.
“All of us feel we need to get schools open as soon as possible. A lack of in-person education is certainly problematic; it’s going to hinder many children going forward. That in-person interaction is key to their development.”
More than 425,000 Americans have died of COVID-19, which led all schools in Maryland to close to in-person instruction last March 16.
While most Catholic schools in the archdiocese began offering in-person instruction last September, several of the largest local public school systems, such as Baltimore City and Anne Arundel and Baltimore counties, have yet to offer in-person instruction to their general population during the 2020-21 school year.
Gov. Larry Hogan and state Superintendent of Schools Dr. Karen Salmon have called for all public schools to reopen in a hybrid format no later than March 1.
Safety in schools has particular resonance for Lebron, who in addition to being the medical director for Quality and Patient Safety at Mercy Medical Center, is the father of a second-grader.
Lebron attended St. Joseph School in Cockeysvile and St. Margaret School in Bel Air before attending The John Carroll School in Bel Air, where he was in the class of 1999.
At Mercy Medical Center, he works with Peter Rowe, its director of Quality and Patient Safety. He’s a 2013 graduate of Calvert Hall College High School in Towson. Their vaccine team includes Caroline Cummings, a 2016 graduate of Mercy High who works at the hospital as a senior quality analyst.
Hospital staff could not separate out the number of educators who were among what Rowe described as “several thousand” people who received the Moderna vaccine Mercy Medical Center had available the week of Jan. 18.
Both Calvert Hall and Mercy are among the Catholic high schools which sent staff to the Baltimore hospital for the vaccine. Mary Beth Lennon, president of Mercy High, was among the heads of schools to reach out to the hospital; both are sponsored by the Sisters of Mercy.
According to COVIDLink, the state website, Maryland is receiving approximately 10,000 doses a day for every 1.5 million people eligible. On Jan. 25 the state entered Phase 1C, which includes adults 65 and over, but the majority in that group are waiting for more vaccines to be delivered.
“Our supply is relatively unpredictable,” Lebron said. “It’s all allocated by the state. Demand is going to far outweigh the limited supply.”
Teachers from Mount de Sales Academy in Catonsville, Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in Essex and Immaculate Conception School in Towson, meanwhile, were among those in Baltimore County who got the vaccine at the Maryland State Fairgrounds in Timonium, the former doing so Jan. 22.
“We’ve worked very closely with the Maryland Department of Health, and the health departments within the city and counties, to access vaccines for our teachers and staff across the Archdiocese of Baltimore,” said James B. Sellinger, chancellor of education for the Department of Catholic Schools in the archdiocese.
Sellinger noted that Baltimore City’s offer to vaccine teachers at nonpublic schools this weekend includes independent Catholic schools, and that teachers from Bishop Walsh School in Cumberland are also scheduled to receive vaccines this week. Teachers from John Carroll, meanwhile, will begin receiving the vaccine Feb. 3 through the Harford County Health Department.
Sellinger added that Calvert Hall and four elementary schools – Immaculate Conception in Towson, Monsignor Slade in Glen Burnie, St. Joseph in Cockeysville and St. Joseph in Fullerton – are in the Maryland Department of Health’s pilot program for rapid on-site COVID-19 testing.
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