Mercer Superintendents 'Excited' As NJ Expands COVID Vaccination

PRINCETON, NJ — Thomas Smith, president of the Mercer County Association of School Administrators (MCASA) said they were “excited” to hear that Gov. Phil Murphy was expanding COVID-19 vaccination to include educators and day care workers.

“We are very excited to hear that educators will finally be eligible for the vaccine and we anxiously await details on how the distribution will take place,” Smith told Patch.

“We stand ready and willing to assist with getting our staff vaccinated as soon as possible so our schools can return to normal.”

The Mercer County Association of School Administrators had written to Murphy last month, urging him to place educators in the "highest priority" list to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

Read More Here: Mercer Superintendents Urge Murphy To Vaccinate Teachers Quickly

In their letter to Murphy, the association said that their ability to “maintain classroom learning is directly affected by having healthy teachers and staff, whose safety and confidence hinges on access to the vaccines.”

MCASA includes school superintendents from all districts in Mercer County. Smith, who is president of the association, is superintendent of Hopewell Valley Regional School District.

The association said they were willing to offer facilities, skilled staff and operational planning teams to help the state in vaccination effort.

On Monday, Murphy announced he's expanding COVID-19 vaccine availability to teachers. Beginning March 15, the following essential workers will be eligible:

• Pre-K to 12 educators and support staff
• Child care workers
• Transportation workers
• Additional public safety workers

Murphy made the teacher immunization announcement on MSNBC, saying vaccines will be expanding in "phases", and at the head of that list will be teachers.

"Protecting our kids, getting them the best education possible, helping moms and dads cover this extraordinary stressful period of having to work, in many cases, from home and (have) kids that are in the school systems that may not be in person — it's an imperative of ours to get school and get that back up on its feet," Murphy said on MSNBC.

The announcement came as Murphy faces mounting pressure to vaccinate teachers so students can return for in-person classes safely.

Apart from the MCASA, the Middlesex County Association of School Administrators too wrote to Murphy asking he expand the vaccine priority list to include educators.

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