‘We’re resilient people’: Horry County Schools staff vaccinated after a year of tumult
Relief was in the air Friday as Horry County Schools employees received their first dose of the coronavirus vaccine nearly a year after schools shuttered due to the threat of the pandemic.
“I think the biggest word to describe all this is just relief,” said Nora Abushakra, who teaches 7th grade social studies at North Myrtle Beach Middle School.
Abushakra was one of about 500 Horry County Schools employees who are set to get the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine at Conway Medical Center this weekend, with clinics Friday and Saturday specifically for school staff. School workers are included in Phase 1b of South Carolina’s vaccine plan, which began Monday.
Schools have been a hot-button issue of both the vaccine rollout and the effects of the pandemic as parents and teachers worry about the long-term effects of extended online learning. Conway Medical Center will host more schools-specific vaccinations in the coming weeks, with Coastal Carolina University and Horry Georgetown Technical College staff getting vaccinated next week.
All Horry County elementary and middle schools and some high schools are back to in-person learning five days a week, with an all-virtual option. The rest of the high schools are expected to be back in person full-time by the end of the month as plexiglass is installed, HCS spokesperson Lisa Bourcier said. The school district spent millions on the installation of plexiglass barriers in school buildings to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. James Edwards, who works in maintenance at HCS, worked to set up the barriers and received the vaccine Friday.
“It’s a good feeling knowing that you’re doing this to make it a safe place for them,” he said.
Around half of the district’s employees have expressed interest in receiving the vaccine, Bourcier said. She added that more people are likely to be more comfortable with it once they see others get vaccinated.
Some school employees, like Abushakra and Myrtle Beach Elementary cafeteria manager Regina Jenerette, said they felt more secure going back to work now that they have gotten the vaccine, specifically because they have elderly parents who live with them. This year was “wild,” Jenerette said, but being back in school brings some normalcy.
“When everyone had to stay home, we still tried to provide for the kids, even though we wasn’t getting the shot at the time,” Jenerette said. “But now being back five days [a week], knowing that we got the shot, we feel more comfortable, relieved.”
Reopening schools across the country has been largely focused on younger age groups, as interaction is crucial for development. Sara Ayala is an early childhood special education teacher at Forestbrook Elementary who works with kids age 3-5 and getting the vaccine gave her another layer of security at work after a rollercoaster of a year, she said.
“So much has happened. I think it was safe to leave and be cautious, but I’m glad to be back,” Ayala said. “It has been hard and challenging, but we move on. We’re resilient people”
This story was originally published March 12, 2021 at 5:51 PM.
