Local teachers look forward to COVID-19 vaccine

Mississippi teachers are now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Lauderdale County School District COVID-19 Liaison Dr. DeShannon Davis has a sign of relief after receiving the first dose. Davis received the vaccine this past Friday and says she hasn’t had any side effects from the shot.

“My arm was a little sore. It just felt like a pulled muscle, but as far as fatigue or feeling like I had the flu--I didn’t experience any side effects from it,” said Davis.

Davis is scheduling her second dose appointment for March 30th. She says she’s been in contact with several teachers over the past two months about when the vaccine will be available to them.

“A lot of our teachers are interested in taking it and a lot of them have already taken the vaccine,” said Davis. “It’s not something that will be mandatory that our administrators and teachers take.”

One teacher at Clarkdale High School says it’s been a struggle teaching during the pandemic, but is looking forward to rolling up his sleeve for the shot.

“If getting the vaccine helps the parents and some of my students feel safer around me or in my classroom then I’m more than happy to get out and get it,” said 7th grade math teacher, Luke Smith. “I guess we’ll just have to see if that does actually bring change or send us back to normal.”

With wearing a mask and social distancing now being a requirement for schools, 8th grade cyber foundation teacher Katie Moffett at Clarkdale High School says getting the vaccine will hopefully reduce that.

“Definitely teaching with a mask has been difficult--just having to raise the volume, speaking and being able to understand what the kids are saying,” said Moffett. “I’m around students all day long so I need to protect myself from them as well as protect them.”