Williams: No plan to move Missouri teachers to front of vaccine line

(AP) — Missouri’s health director says the state has no plans to move teachers higher on the list for COVID-19 vaccinations but will continue focusing on getting shots to older people and those with serious illnesses.
“Those people who are more likely to get sick, and bluntly, to pass away if they get COVID, continue to be the governor’s focus and my focus and all of our focus,” Dr. Randall Williams said during Gov. Mike Parson’s weekly media briefing.
“So the answer is that’s what’s guiding us and will continue to guide us,” Williams said.
Several states, including neighboring Kansas and Illinois, have already begun vaccinating teachers, deeming school staff as frontline essential workers. But in Missouri, teachers are classified in the state’s Phase 1-B, tier 3. The state is now in Phase 1-B, Tier 2, which includes those 65 and older or with compromised immune systems.