PERRYSBURG, Ohio — As many school districts across Ohio prepare to vaccinate teachers and staff on Feb. 1, most schools in northwest Ohio will have to wait.
"Somebody has to be first and somebody has to be last, and no one wants to be last," Perrysburg Schools Superintendent Tom Hosler said.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine released Tuesday a list of which schools would be vaccinated first, and no schools in the region were named.
"I think it's creating a lot of frustration and quite honestly apprehension and only lending itself to the problem, and the concerns that we have about getting back to in-person instruction safely," Toledo Federation of Teacher's President Kevin Dalton said.
While no northwest Ohio schools were noted in DeWine's list for next Monday, Notre Dame Academy will begin vaccinating their teachers, faculty, and staff on Thursday.
A spokesperson with the Diocese said:
“We are encouraging participation, but each school is individually working with the health department and local providers to set things up."
No further clarification was provided on how Notre Dame Academy was able to secure those doses.
Hosler said seeing a list of school districts getting vaccinations feels good, and he's glad schools are being prioritized but hopes our local counties are some of the next ones to be selected.
"We have large districts, urban districts; we really have a great cross-section of rural and small-town," Hosler said.
Washington Local Schools Superintendent Dr. Kadee Anstadt said she was disappointed our area schools were absent from DeWine's list.
She said when her district on the list, staff are prepared.
"We have 100 volunteers lined up that in a moment's notice will jump in. We have our nurses lined up. We have our stickers printed, we have our signs ready. We have it all, we're ready to go," Anstadt said.
Despite not being first on the list, Hosler said there is some good news because of it.
"Not being first in line allows us to continue that educational piece with our educators, and that's really critical because there's a lot of misinformation out there about the vaccine," he said.
At this time, it is unclear if any of Toledo's other Catholic schools will be receiving shots next week.
Area superintendents have been told they will find out at the end of this week if they will be on the list for the next round of vaccines.