Second county teacher clinic goes off "without a hitch"

Medina County school employees from every school district took yet another step toward safely reopening full in-person classes, Friday, as Brunswick and Medina high schools hosted a second round of COVID-19 vaccine clinics. The clinics, which were organized by the Educational Service Center of Medina County and run by Discount Drug Mart, went off without a hitch for a second time, said Brunswick Superintendent Mike Mayell. He said there were about 1,400 school staff members that got vaccinated at Brunswick High School on Friday. That lines up with the approximately 1,450 shots that were dispensed at the school during the first clinic on Feb. 4 to educators from Brunswick, Buckeye, Highland, Medina Christian Academy, the ESC, Saint Ambrose and Saint Francis Xavier. In that first round, there were over 3,200 total county school workers that received the first round of the vaccine between the Brunswick and Medina clinics. "I can't thank the ESC and Discount Drug Mart enough," Mayell said. "In two days, we got the educators in the entire county vaccinated. That is huge for us. It's the beginning steps of getting our kids back face-to-face every day. Everybody's efforts, the teamwork and collaboration that occurred, it's just a win-win for the county." Though this most recent clinic marked the second dose of the vaccine for many of the staff members that attended, there were still some that received their first dose Friday. This day was chosen intentionally to give staff the weekend to recuperate, in the case they have any side effects from the second round. Mayell said there have been "brief conversations" about how those individuals who got first shots Friday can work to get their second dose. Possible options include having another small, one-site clinic or possibly setting up appointments at Drug Mart stores. "It depends on the numbers and what they can accommodate," Mayell said. "Once they get the final numbers, we'll sit down and talk again and figure out the best model to get those vaccinations done." Amy Bubsy, Medina Schools spokesperson, shared similar thoughts to Mayell and praised the work of the ESC, Drug Mart and others. "The process once again went smoothly," Busby said in a statement. "We appreciate the partnership with the Educational Service Center of Medina County, the Medina County school districts, the Medina County Health Department, and Discount Drug Mart to make these vaccine clinics available to the staff members." Barb Armour, a bus driver with the Brunswick Schools for 26 years, said she appreciated how the clinics were scheduled and praised the efficiency in how she received her second dose. She said she "felt great" after the first shot earlier this month and shortly after receiving her second dose Friday, said she was having no problems. "It was amazingly wonderful," Armour said. "It was so efficient, they did a great, great job. Both of them. Everything was so well organized and you just moved through it seamlessly. I really appreciate the fact that it was brought right to our work site and we didn't have to register at five or six different places to try and find a shot on our own." As soon as the opportunity to get the vaccine was made available, Armour jumped on the opportunity. She urged others to consider getting it as well and said that the more teachers and staff members that are vaccinated, the safer it will be for the students who are not yet able to get the vaccines themselves. "We're all here for each other," Armour said. "By everyone getting the shot, we're all protecting each other and protecting the children that we're serving, that aren't able to get the shot yet. Protecting them, by us all being protected and having less of a chance of getting the virus, is a great opportunity." Mayell said it was encouraging to see the number of people that came out once again and that it was a "tremendous representation of the county." "Kids are kids," Mayell said. "It doesn't matter if they're in Brunswick, Medina, Black River, Cloverleaf, Wadsworth, Highland or Buckeye. The more people we get vaccinated, the more kids are going to be back in school sooner and it's just better off for the entire county." Contact reporter Jack Kopanski at (330) 721-4063 or jkopanski@medina-gazette.com.