DOE launches vaccination portal for
public school teachers and staff
BY ALEJANDRA
O’CONNELL-DOMENECH
New York City public
school principals, teachers
and staff can now upload
proof of vaccination into a
new Department of Education
portal in order to verify
their vaccine status and avoid
weekly COVID testing once
classes start on Sept. 13.
The portal’s launch, fi rst
reported by Politico, comes
just over a month before public
school students return
to classrooms and roughly
a month after Mayor Bill de
Blasio announced teachers
will need either be vaccinated
to undergo weekly COVID-19
testing once school begins.
“Vaccines are our passport
out of this pandemic and this
brand new tool is a one-stopshop
that streamlines submitting,
collecting and verifying
vaccination status for
every single DOE school and
employee,” said DOE spokesperson
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Katie O’Hanlon. “ We
encourage everyone getting
ready for September 13th to
upload their vaccination proof
and do their part to keep our
school communities safe and
healthy.”
Uploads will be accepted
on a rolling basis with teachers
able to use vaccination
cards, New York State Excelsior
Passes or another government
record. Instructors that
are not fully vaccinated or
those who do not show proof
of vaccination by Sept. 13 will
need to be tested weekly for
the virus. Once an instructor
is fully vaccinated and uploads
a copy of a vaccination
card or other accepted form of
vaccine verifi cation, they will
no longer need to be tested,
according to a DOE spokesperson.
The mayor has pushed vaccination
as the key to safely
and fully reopening public
schools this fall and ordered
teachers to get vaccinated
or submit to weekly COVID
tests as part of a broader effort
to boost vaccination rates
among government workers.
In July, de Blasio reported
that about 60% of the DOE’s
workforce had received at
least one dose of a COVID-19
vaccine.
The portal, DOE offi cials
hope, will verify the vaccination
status of 140,000 school
staff.
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