Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf announced Wednesday morning that all school employees and contractors would be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine. He said Pennsylvania will use the Johnson & Johnson single-dose COVID-19 vaccine for PreK-12 teachers and other school staff.

The Schuylkill County Intermediate Unit has wasted no time setting up. The IU will serve as a vaccine distribution host site for Schuylkill County employees.

“We were contacted on Sunday and they said get ready for a meeting Monday,” said Dr. Greg Koons, Schuylkill Intermediate Unit 29 Executive Director.

“Here we are rolling it out today. It just happened that quick. The governor’s office got in touch with our executive director Dr. John George. It was rolled out really quickly.”

Koons met with Schuylkill superintendents Wednesday morning to discuss the rollout plan and the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which was approved earlier in the week.

To quickly get the vaccine into educators’ arms, the Pennsylvania Emergency Management Agency and the departments of Education and Health are partnering with the 28 Intermediate Units to establish vaccine sites. The Pennsylvania National Guard and AMI Expeditionary Healthcare will administer the vaccine. Philadelphia operates its own separate vaccine distribution.

“Following that, a link was provided to me, which I sent out to the superintendents,” Koons said. “That link was forwarded to all of that staff of every one of the 12-member school districts, as well as the IU here, Schuylkill Technology Center and Gillingham Charter School.

“Each individual employee must complete the survey and state whether or not they would want to receive the vaccine. The survey must be completed by Friday.”

The vaccine for the Schuylkill County educators will likely be a two-phase rollout - two separate dates will be planned for personnel to receive the one-shot vaccine.

Each IU region will have at least one vaccination location with most locations starting vaccinations between March 10 and 13. Eligible school staff will receive information about vaccine locations and registration instructions. The vaccine is voluntary.

“We’re still waiting to see what days we have been selected for, it could be as early as next Wednesday,” Koons said.

“It would most likely run from noon-8 p.m. on site here at the Schuylkill IU.”

Koons said he’s ecstatic for the Schuylkill school workers - which can range from a custodian, to a teacher’s aide, teacher or a van driver - to have the opportunity to become vaccinated.

“The No. 1 reaction was that we were thrilled for being able to provide this service for our community. That’s what it’s about. If our teachers are healthy, less chance that they’d be spreading any kind of COVID-related illnesses to our students.”

State officials expect 94,000 doses of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to arrive this week as school districts face pressure to bring students back to classrooms for in-person instruction.

“This new single-dose vaccine adds another layer of support to get students and teachers back in the classroom,” Gov. Wolf said. “Teachers and staff who work with our children will be vaccinated, and I commend the task force and all of our partners for their tremendous commitment to their schools and communities.”

Education groups say vaccinating school staff is an “absolutely essential” step toward reopening schools and keeping them open.

“We are obviously happy to have the opportunity for our staff to begin the process of a large scale vaccination against COVID-19,” said Ray Kinder, Tamaqua superintendent.

“It is our hope that the vaccination, along with vigilance to mitigating factors, will allow our district to continue to operate our successful in-person model of instruction. Having our staff vaccinated is one significant step toward returning the school experience to what our students want and have come to expect.”

The Pennsylvania State Troopers Association, though, feels troopers should be prioritized for the vaccine.

“There are only 4,300 state troopers in Pennsylvania, but they are responsible for patrolling over 85% of our commonwealth,” PSTA President David Kennedy said Wednesday.

“Thus far, over 700 troopers have been infected with nearly 1,000 department employees, overall. An outbreak could cripple our department. Public safety should be a priority right now.”

The state is still in Phase 1A of its vaccine plan, offering the shots to people age 65 and over and younger people with high-risk medical conditions - a population that numbers around 4 million. Teachers currently are grouped in Phase 1B.

“There’s some really important front-line workers who I think and I think the task force believes, on a bipartisan basis, should be included in that, like teachers and, not too far down the road, like child care workers, and police, and fire, grocery store workers, bus drivers,” Wolf said.

The administration is also working through the retail pharmacy partnership to ensure all early childhood education workers, including those not associated with an IU have access to the vaccine, including child care workers providing an essential service to working families across the commonwealth.

The departments of Health and Education also updated recommendations to school leaders for offering instruction based on the level of community transmission in a county.

Full in-person learning is recommended in low-level counties, hybrid/blended learning is recommended in moderate counties and hybrid/blended learning is recommended for elementary grades and full remote learning for middle and high schools in substantial counties.

Schools must continue to practice mitigation strategies, including face coverings, physical distancing and hand hygiene regardless of the county’s transmission level.

Per CDC guidance, vaccinations are not required for schools to safely resume in-person instruction.