COVID-19 vaccine uptake among Arkansas public K-12 school teachers and staff.

ABSTRACT

In December 2020, the first coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccines received emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). To strategically allocate the limited availability of COVID-19 vaccines, the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) developed a phased approach for eligibility that prioritized certain population groups that were more vulnerable to infection and severe outcomes. Public K-12 teachers and staff were included in Phase 1b. The Arkansas Department of Health (ADH) sought to evaluate the uptake of COVID-19 vaccines within this priority group. In partnership with the Arkansas Department of Education (ADE), ADH received a list of 66,076 certified staff, classified staff, and teachers within the public K-12 school system. This list was matched to the state immunization registry via deterministic methods across three identifiers first name, last name and date of birth. Uptake was assessed and the population was characterized using descriptive analyses. After 13 weeks of availability, 34,783 (51.2 %) of public K-12 teachers and staff had received at least one dose and 29,870 (44.0 %) had completed the series. School districts with the least robust uptake of COVID-19 vaccines tended to be in more rural areas, with some districts having less than 10 % of teachers and staff with at least one dose. The proportion of public K-12 teachers and staff with at least one dose of any COVID-19 vaccine grew quickly between January 18th and February 14th (4 % to 43 %) but has plateaued in the most recent seven weeks (45 % to 51 %). Although not directly measured, it is possible that vaccine hesitancy could be a factor in the attenuated uptake of COVID-19 vaccines within certain factions of the Arkansas public K-12 teacher and staff population. Overcoming vaccine hesitancy during the COVID-19 vaccine rollout will be critical in bringing an end to the pandemic.