Iron County School District cancels vaccine clinic at schools
Apr 28, 2021, 10:06 AM | Updated: 4:09 pm
Iron County School District's offices in Cedar City are pictured on Wednesday April 7, 2021. (Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
(Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News)
CEDAR CITY, Utah — The Iron County School Board said it does not want a vaccination clinic to happen at Canyon View High School.
The district said the Pfizer clinic scheduled to happen at the school for May 8 was canceled after the School Board decided it did not want vaccinations to be administered in their schools, for now.
The Pfizer Vaccination Clinic scheduled and advertised for May 8 at Canyon View High School has been cancelled. The School Board does not want vaccinations to be administered in our schools.
— Iron County Schools (@Iron_Schools) April 28, 2021
The county is currently classified by the state health department as having a “Very High” rate of coronavirus transmission.
Iron County School Board opposes clinic at schools
Iron County School Board member Dave Staheli joined Dave and Dujanovic to discuss why he had put the item on the agenda and explained why the board has placed a moratorium on the clinics.
“My initial concern was liability. I know I wouldn’t personally hold a vaccine clinic on my business property right now that’s for sure,” Staheli said.
He said originally, the decision was supposed to be an action item on the agenda, but it was accidentally added as a discussion item so the board has put a moratorium on using school property to administer COVID-19 vaccines. In other interviews with KSL Newsradio, Staheli said they did not want prevent students from being vaccinated, but they believes health officials should find other venues for these clinics.
He said, “We just want to see if there’s another way it can be done that doesn’t involve the school.”
Staheli said even though federal health officials have approved the vaccine, state health officials distributed it and parents approved their kids receive it, they’re still unsure how liable the school board could be if long-term problems are eventually discovered. He believes the emergency nature of the rollout prevented researchers from diving deeply into any long-term side effects.
“We really still don’t know what will happen in five year, ten years or 20 years down the road,” he said. “The vaccines are so new and we really just don’t have a lot of time behind them, for lack of a better term, as to what any kind of long-term effects or outcomes might be.”
“The majority of the board agreed that we should at least suspend this, [and] put a moratorium on this until we have a chance to more thoroughly review, you know the implications of giving vaccines to kids and what the school district’s liabilities would be,” Staheli said.
He added that some district administrators had some background work on what was happening in neighboring Washington County and that information they had received from the state said there shouldn’t be any concern for liability issues, but said they decided to hold off.
The board might decide to resume the vaccination clinics on school grounds. Staheli said they’ll discuss the issue again on the second Tuesday of May, then take a vote on the third Tuesday.
You can hear the full conversation with Board Member Staheli here:
How To Prevent the Spread of COVID-19 Coronavirus
COVID-19 coronaviruses transmitted from person to person. It is a virus that is similar to the common cold and the flu. So, to prevent it from spreading:
- Wash hands frequently and thoroughly, with soap and water, for at least 20 seconds.
- Wear a mask.
- Don’t touch your face.
- Keep children and those with compromised immune systems away from someone who is coughing or sneezing (in this instance, at least six feet)
- If there is an outbreak near you, practice social distancing (stay at home, instead of going to the movies, sports events, or other activities.)
- Get a flu shot.
- Get vaccinated.
Local resources
Utah’s Coronavirus Information
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Utah Coronavirus Information Line – 1-800-456-7707
National Resources
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Commonly asked questions, World Health Organization
