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Teachers in Denver’s highest-poverty schools will be first in line for the COVID-19 vaccine when eligibility for educators opens on Monday, according to the school district’s plan.
Mike Cammilleri, a dean at Cheltenham Elementary School, where 94% of students qualify for subsidized school meals, is slated to get his first vaccine dose on Monday.
“Anything that gets us a step closer to what we used to call normal is progress in my mind,” Cammilleri said of his decision to get vaccinated.
Most Colorado school districts have offered in-person learning to at least some grades for most of the school year, and the districts that closed buildings in November and December as COVID-19 cases surged are back in person now, even without vaccines.
Gov. Jared Polis has repeatedly said he thinks classrooms are relatively safe. But in response to demand from educators, Polis moved them up in the state’s priority line for vaccines.