ECE Vaccine Webinar - March 12
March 9, 2021
ACF and CDC Early Childhood Vaccine Priority
Dear Early Childhood Partners,
On March 2, 2021, the President announced that he is directing all states to prioritize school staff and child care workers for COVID-19 vaccination, and is challenging them to get these essential workers their first shot by the end of March. The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is partnering with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to help communities to meet this challenge.
The Administration for Children and Families is co-hosting a stakeholder webinar with CDC on Friday, March 12, 2021 from 1-2pm eastern. The purpose of this webinar is to provide more detailed information about this initiative, CDC’s Federal Retail Pharmacy program, and resources available to help you with outreach to your child care and early childhood provider communities. During this webinar, stakeholders will have chance to hear more about this effort from ACF and CDC leaders and address any initial questions that you and your partners and constituents might have about this initiative.
You can register for the webinar at the link below:
https://www.zoomgov.com/webinar/register/WN_v8sr3LMTT4GPUnccAMNpMA
This webinar is open to all stakeholders working with child care and early childhood programs across the country. There is a maximum capacity of 5000 people for this webinar, but the recording will be available on demand after March 12 to those who register. Please register as soon as possible and submit any questions for presenters in advance to the email address below.
CDC is working with states that have not yet included teachers, school staff and child care workers in their prioritization to ensure they have the support needed to make this change. CDC is identifying best practices for vaccinating these essential workers, as well as addressing barriers that immunization programs have experienced. More information and resources from CDC are available at their websites for COVID-19 Vaccines for Teachers, School Staff, and Child care Workers and COVID-19 Vaccine Toolkit for School Settings and Childcare Programs.
The following teachers and staff will be eligible:
- Family child care providers
- Staff at child care centers
- Head Start and Early Head Start teachers and staff
- Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade teachers
To help states accomplish this goal, there are two avenues for obtaining vaccination for school and childcare staff.
First, states have been directed to make school staff, Head Start staff, and child care workers eligible at all available vaccination locations.
Second, the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program is prioritizing vaccinations for school staff, Head Start, and child care workers during the month of March. Starting on March 8th, people who work in child care centers, family child care homes, and Head Start and Early Head Start programs are able to sign up for an appointment at over 9,000 pharmacy locations participating in the federal program nationwide.
In order to reach our goal to get all early educators and staff their first vaccine by the end of the month, we need your help. While we will be doing all that we can to get the word out to communities, your direct communication to your members and constituents letting them know about this Presidential directive and how to get vaccinated will be key.
If you have questions in the meantime, please email: earlychildhooddevelopment@acf.hhs.gov
Thank you very much for your help in getting the early childhood community vaccinated.
Sincerely,
Katie Hamm
Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary for Early Childhood Development
Administration for Children and Families
Dr. Ellen Wheatley
Acting Director
Office of Child Care
Dr. Bernadine Futrell
Director
Office of Head Start
"ECD’s operational mission is to act as a catalyst to create collective impact and support early learning and care of our nation's children and their families."
Email: EarlyChildhoodDevelopment@acf.hhs.gov
Website: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ecd
Follow us on Twitter: @ecdgov
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Email: earlychildhooddevelopment@acf.hhs.gov
Website: https://www.acf.hhs.gov/ecd
Twitter: @ecdgov