By JAN LARSON McLAUGHLIN
BG Independent News
Behind their masks, many Bowling Green City School employees were beaming as they got their first dose of the COVID vaccine on Friday.
“This is an extra layer of confidence that makes me feel more secure,” said Bill Ferguson, English teacher at BG Middle School. “I’m excited to get back. It’s like the first day of school again.”
While teachers from other districts getting vaccines have already been teaching in-person, Bowling Green remained in remote learning until the vaccines were available. Students will be returning to their classrooms for the first time in 11 months next week.
“It will be much better with the kids coming back next week,” said Marshal Headley, eighth grade science teacher. “It’s not going to be what it used to be, but it’s going to be nice to have kids back in my classroom.”
Vaccinations of K-12 employees took place throughout Wood County on Friday. At least 850 employees from Bowling Green City Schools, Elmwood, Otsego, North Baltimore and Wood County Educational Service Center were all getting their shots at Bowling Green Middle School. Other mass vaccinations sites were set up at Perrysburg High School and Penta Career Center.
The process will be repeated in three weeks, when the school employees get their second doses of the Pfizer vaccine.
At Bowling Green Middle School, the mass vaccinations ran smoothly.
Jodi Anderson, curriculum coordinator for Bowling Green schools, was one of the first to get her shot.
“I was a practice person, to make sure the process worked well,” Anderson said. The process passed muster. “It’s extremely well organized.”
The vaccination site was organized by Wood County Hospital and Wood County Health Department.
The hospital has experience operating 25 previous COVID vaccine clinics – but none as big as the one at Bowling Green Middle School.
“This is the largest one we’ve done,” said Todd Leopold, head of pharmacy at Wood County Hospital. “We basically multiplied everything by five.”
School employees registered in one hallway, then were assigned a number. There was no wait-time as employees were sent to vaccination stations in the middle school cafeteria. After getting the shots, the employees were ushered into the gymnasium, where they were monitored for 15 minutes to make sure there were no ill effects.
“We have a very good process for doing these things,” Wood County Hospital President Stan Korducki said. “The key is having enough people.”
The hospital had about 40 people staffing the site – including retired medical personnel who felt called to assist.
“We have a lot of retired alumni who have said they want to help,” Korducki said. “This pandemic has called out the best from everyone.We’re just really excited and thrilled to be able to help with this. We want the kids to get back to school.”
One of those volunteers was Dr. Tom Milbrodt, who was working in the school cafeteria kitchen, checking the vaccine doses in the syringes, and labeling them with the time that they would expire. The Pfizer vaccines are good for just six hours after being removed from deep freeze.
“I have experience and we need the whole community working together,” said Milbrodt, who is also a member of the Wood County Board of Health.
Bowling Green firefighters and EMS were on hand to respond in case there were any bad reactions to the vaccine.
“We’ve done quite a few of these clinics, and we haven’t had any problems,” Bowling Green Fire Chief Bill Moorman said. “We’ve got to work together as a team.”
School superintendents were pleased with how smoothly the vaccinations were being handled.
“It’s been a really good partnership with Wood County Hospital,” said Bowling Green Superintendent Francis Scruci. “They really rose to the challenge.”
Scruci estimated 80% of Bowling Green school district employees had signed up for the vaccines.
“Our staff is excited to have the opportunity to get vaccinated and have a sense of normalcy,” he said. “We choose to err on the side of caution.”
Otsego Superintendent Adam Koch said about 75% of that district’s employees signed up to be vaccinated.
“Overall, our entire staff is excited,” he said. “This will further create a safe environment for kids.”
Elmwood Superintendent Tony Borton estimated about 65% of his district’s employees were signed up to get shots. Like Otsego, Elmwood has been holding in-person classes.
“This just makes the teachers feel safe,” Borton said. “It’s another layer.”
Elmwood fourth grade teacher Carla Carter was relieved the shot didn’t hurt nearly as bad as she had feared after seeing the long needles being used.
Crim Elementary intervention specialist Anne Babcock was thrilled at the prospect of meeting with her students face-to-face starting next week.
“I can’t wait to see my kids again. I’m really excited,” Babcock said.
Kenwood reading specialist Ann Strobel was also looking forward to reuniting with students.
“I’m excited to get them back into the classroom,” Strobel said. “The parents and kids have done a great job at home – and the grandparents, we’ve had a lot of grandparents helping out. I told the students to tell their parents and grandparents thank you.”
Eric Willman, who drives bus for the Bowling Green school district, said getting the vaccine will make him feel better about transporting kids to and from school.
“It’s very difficult to social distance as kids are coming and going on the bus,” Willman said.
Crim second grade teacher Stacey Higgins expressed relief that the vaccine may provide some extra protection for her family at home. And she is ecstatic about seeing her students face-to-face.
“I have to have my kids back in the classroom,” Higgins said.
Wood County Health Commissioner Ben Robison said the three mass vaccination sites for school employees all ran smoothly.
“We had great support from all the partners involved,” including Wood County Hospital, Mercy Hospital, EMS departments and volunteers, Robison said. “They are so well organized.”
All together, an estimated 2,765 doses will be given today, including 300 doses for the public who meet the 1B vaccine criteria at Penta once all the school employees are vaccinated.
There is a possibility that vaccines not used on Friday will be made available to the public within the next few days. The vaccines from all three sites will be consolidated – and must be used within five days, Robison said.
The Wood County Health Department will provide information about the possible “clean-up” clinic on its website at https://www.woodcountyhealth.org/. To qualify, people must meet the 1B criteria of being age 65 or older, or having certain medical conditions.
