Today, Governor Tom Wolf and the COVID-19 Vaccine Task Force announced that Pennsylvania will use the Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) single-dose COVID-19 vaccine for PreK-12 public and non-public school teachers and other school staff. The vaccination of educators is separate from the ongoing Phase 1A vaccine rollout, which continues at an accelerated pace.

The Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last weekend authorized the Johnson & Johnson vaccine for emergency use. Pennsylvania will receive 94,600 doses this 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 (IUs) to establish vaccine sites. The Pennsylvania National Guard and AMI Expeditionary Healthcare (AMI) will administer the vaccine. Philadelphia operates its own separate vaccine distribution.

Each IU region will have at least one vaccination location with most locations starting vaccinations between March 10 and 13. Further details will follow, and eligible school staff will receive information about vaccine locations and registration instructions from their employer or IU.

The initial priority is vaccinating school staff that have regular and sustained in-person contact with students during the regular school day, including teachers and staff providing pre-k and elementary instruction, special education, English learners and associated support because younger children are more susceptible to learning loss and their families are more likely to have childcare challenges.

Please see this link for frequently asked questions about this announcement and the rollout.