NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Higher education workers, lawmakers and community members delivered a letter calling for university and college employees to be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday since other educators are eligible across the state.
The letter included more than 1,000 signatures from workers, as well as signatures from around 200 community members. It was delivered to Governor Bill Lee and the Tennessee Commissioner of Health, Lisa Piercey.
It was organized by the United Campus Workers, a union that represents higher-education workers across the state.
"We, the undersigned, are asking for campus workers to be included in an early phase of the COVID-19 vaccine distribution in the same way that K-12 education employees are," the letter says. "This is essential for having a safe return to campus for students, faculty, staff, and community members."
The letter also said that staff and faculty who already returned to campus without the vaccine are risking their health, despite fewer in-person classes being held.
"The sooner that campus workers are vaccinated, the sooner we can return to in-person education safely," the letter also says.
It says that several institutions have seen a decline in enrollment numbers during the pandemic, despite the state of Tennessee's emphasis on education. The declining enrollment numbers could lead to a financial crisis, and may indicate a generation of students delaying their training, the UCW says.
Teachers and educators in K-12 could start receiving the vaccine as part of Phase 1b. People 16 years old and over with high-risk conditions can also receive the vaccine as part of Phase 1c, which the state moved into in early March.
Governor Lee said recently that around 1.3 million Tennesseans have been vaccinated against COVID-19 so far.