Through the Salem Together initiative, the City of Salem, Salem Public Schools, and Salem Teachers Union are teaming up to recruit volunteers from the community who are willing to find and book vaccine appointments for eligible teachers, school workers, and others in Salem’s education workforce who are now eligible for the vaccine. Many of these individuals work during the day and are unable to get online to book an appointment when new slots open. While they can pre-register for the Mass Vax clinics, all other clinic sites are still booked on a first-online, first-served basis.
If you can help from home by volunteering to find appointments for these essential workers, please fill out the form at www.salem.com/schoolvaxfindervolunteer. Over the next few days, you will be sent the information about your “adopted” education workers and the links necessary to start trying to book their appointments. Please note, you must have access to a computer and the Internet, and be comfortable navigating online forms to volunteer.
If you work in a K-12 public or private school in Salem, whether as a teacher or staff, or you work in early childhood education or childcare, you can fill out the form at www.salem.com/schoolvaxfinderrequest if you would like to be added to the list of “adoptable” education workers for volunteers to help. You should also be sure you are pre-registered for the state’s Mass Vax sites, by visiting vaccinesignup.mass.gov. If you have received the vaccine or you have your vaccine appointment scheduled, please do not fill out the form.
Find out more about the eligibility of education workers for the COVID-19 vaccine at www.mass.gov/info-details/frequently-asked-questions-covid-19-vaccinations-for-k-12-and-childcare-workers.
“Salem residents have stepped up time and again throughout this pandemic,” said Mayor Kim Driscoll, who chairs the Salem School Committee. “Through Salem Together, our volunteers have delivered food and groceries to homebound residents, placed thousands of well-being check-in calls to Salem seniors, and distributed critical information about vaccines and testing. Now, we’re asking residents to sign up to adopt a few of the workers who are instrumental to the academic and emotional wellbeing of our city’s children. If you’re able, please help as we work to find vaccination appointments for as many of these essential employees as quickly as possible.”
“We are thrilled to be partnering with the City of Salem and the Salem Teachers Union in designing a system to assist our staff in accessing vaccine appointments so that we can safely return our students and staff to a full day of teaching and learning,” said Dr. Stephen Zrike, Superintendent of Salem Public Schools. “We appreciate how committed the residents of Salem are to stepping up and supporting our schools!”
“The Salem Teachers Union is immensely grateful to Mayor Driscoll and the Salem community members who will be assisting teachers and paraprofessionals in getting vaccination appointments,” said Ann Berman, president of the Salem Teachers Union and Bates Elementary School music teacher. “It is imperative that we go back into our buildings on April 5th with as many mitigating strategies in place as possible, including a vaccination, so that we can continue to educate the children of Salem.”
