The Brownsville Independent School District is working proactively to be able administer COVID-19 vaccines to its employees, and when approval comes, to students.
As of Tuesday, some 4,000 BISD employees had signed up to receive the vaccine, district officials said.
Dustin Garza, BISD director of employee benefits and risk management, said the Texas Department of Health and Human Services would require BISD to have a medical doctor, nurse practitioner or registered pharmacist on staff, or to have a partner to be able to submit an application to the state to administer the vaccines.
“We’re moving as fast as we can. There’s some things we still have to finalize,” Garza said Tuesday to the BISD Board of Trustees. “There’s a lot of restrictions.”
VBMC has expressed a willingness to partner with BISD, Garza said, while Amalia Walters, a Career and Technical Education pharmacy instructor is a registered pharmacist.
The Food and Nutrition Services Department has freezers that meet specifications for storing vaccines, Superintendent Rene Gutierrez said.
And Garza said that BISD is working proactively to be able to administer children’s vaccines when they become available. Currently Pfizer and Moderna are seeking approval of their vaccines for children, while the Johnson & Johnson’s vaccine also is seeking approval to be administered to children.
