Delaware received its first shipment of the single dose Johnson & Johnson COVID vaccine Tuesday. And state officials look to use it to help vaccinate more teachers and clear a waiting list of seniors seeking a shot.
About 45% of the 128,000 Delaware seniors on the waiting list have been vaccinated so far, and officials say about 3,500 first doses are scheduled to go to people on that list this week via Curative in Wilmington, Dover and Georgetown.
A total 5,500 school teachers and staff as well as 2,200 childcare providers statewide are expected to be vaccinated by the end of the week. That’s about a third of teachers and staff waiting to get vaccinated and half of all childcare providers.
Some teachers got shots using last minute availability at the end of last week’s second dose mass vaccination event in Dover. And Delaware Education Secretary Susan Bunting says the DOE-led vaccination clinics are continuing to make progress to vaccinate educators.
“When we talk about educators, we’re talking about everyone who might be interacting with children in our schools, from the bus drivers to the teachers, to the paraprofessionals to the people in the front offices, to the nutrition workers, substitute teachers, anyone who might be coming into contact with our children,” said Bunting.
And Gov. John Carney says Delaware is looking to strike a balance between first and second dose distribution with its current vaccine supply.
“Your number of allocation of doses from the federal government has to increase at a rate to keep you up with the people who are qualifying now for their second dose after receiving their first dose if you’re going to move the needle,” said Carney
8,000 doses of the newly-approved Johnson & Johnson single dose vaccine arrived in Delaware Tuesday, but state officials say that might be all the state gets of that vaccine until April.
5,000 of those doses will be used to help clear the state wait list at invitation only events at Seaford High School and the Delaware City DMV this weekend.
