re: Information on the Acceleration of COVID-19 Boosters for School Board Staff

Good Afternoon,

The email below was sent to all staff today.  We encourage all staff to book a vaccine appointment outside of school/work hours as possible.  We recognize that during school closures there is some flexibility during the school day, as long as the synchronous learning for students occurs as required.  When schools re-open to in-person learning, staff will continue to be encouraged to book vaccine appointments outside of the school/work day, however, where this is not possible, staff will need to book medical appointment absence if their appointment is during the school/work day.

This message is being sent to all DDSB staff

Dear Colleagues,

I am writing to share with you news that the Ministry of Education has just released on the acceleration of third doses of COVID-19 vaccines for education workers.

To accelerate access to vaccines, starting January 7, the provincial mass vaccination clinic at the International Centre in Mississauga will support priority booking for education staff, including educators, custodial staff, administrative staff, and school bus drivers, and child care staff. The clinic will operate seven days a week, with specific appointments being made available for education and child care staff from 4:30 p.m. to 8 p.m.

Eligible staff are encouraged to book their appointment through the Provincial Vaccine Booking Line at 1-833-943-3900

For those of you who have an appointment booked, but not until February, we were informed this morning that you should be able to expect to have an appointment in January if you re-book.

At this point, we do not have any further information from the province but wanted to share this news with all staff right away. Thank you for everything that you are doing to support students and the system during this time.

We are also reaching out to the Durham Region Health Department to offer our support and inquire about clinics in Durham Region and once we have additional information, we will share with all staff. But in the meantime, this provincial mass vaccination clinic is offering priority booking for education staff in the Greater Toronto Hamilton Area.

Take care,

Norah Marsh
Director of Education

Heather Mundy
Pronouns: She/Her
Superintendent of People and Culture ( Human Resource Services)
Durham District School Board