By Andonia Goergen, Executive News Editor
Kelly Fraenkel, Staff Writer
With the help of Beach Cities Health District (BCHD) and the City of Manhattan Beach, the Manhattan Beach Unified School District (MBUSD) is working to distribute the COVID-19 vaccine to employees starting as early as March 1.
According to a message from MBUSD Superintendent Dr. Mike Matthews on Monday, MBUSD employees are eligible to receive the vaccine in March. However, a group of MBUSD employees, including Costa Spanish teacher Felise Shapiro and Costa English teachers Shawn Chen and Maddie Hutchinson, received the vaccine early on Feb. 21, after hearing about available vaccines for educators throughout L.A. County.
“The majority of people can get the vaccine and should get the vaccine, if they’re eligible,” said Dr. Mona Ameet Shah, Kaiser Permanente COVID-19 Vaccine Strategy Team Physician and BCHD partner.
Last month, the district polled MBUSD employees about the vaccine and results showed that only six percent of staff said that it does not plan on getting it. Matthews encourages employees who want the vaccine to be on the lookout for vaccination opportunities as they arise.
“I truly do feel that the vaccine has way more benefit than it does risk,” Shah said. “The more people that are protected, the more people we can protect.”
To provide more information about the vaccine to the community, BCHD hosted a Safe in the South Bay Series on Feb. 4. Along with Shah, the series featured Chief Medical Advisor of BCHD Dr. William Kim; Clinical Psychologist Dr. Brittany Dafesh; Clinical Neuropsychologist Dr. Robert Bilder; and Pediatric Infectious Disease Specialist Dr. Nava Yeganeh.
“The only true reason that you should not get the COVID-19 vaccine is if you have a severe life-threatening allergy to the actual components of the vaccine,” Shah said.
Shah informed viewers that it is safe to get the vaccine if one already had COVID-19 and that people should wait two weeks before getting the vaccine if they recently got another vaccine. She also covered some of the side effects, including pain at the injection site, fatigue and headache.
“What I always tell my patients is that side effects are a good thing,” Shah said. “As much as no one wants to have them, it means that your body is working.”
According to the speakers, Phase 1A of vaccination rollout is complete, and they are moving through Phase 1B, which includes education and childcare workers. When the vaccine becomes available to more MBUSD employees, vaccination locations may include the Los Angeles Department of Public Health, BCHD and the City of Manhattan Beach Distribution Center.
“We hope to continue to get to other groups in our communities, including those in education and childcare,” Yeganeh said.
To conclude the event, Dafesh and Bilder gave advice for students who are struggling with COVID-19 and vaccine anxiety, emphasizing the importance of finding social support.
“If there’s anything this pandemic has helped us to realize,” Bilder said, “it’s how important we are to each other.”
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