Published February 2, 2021

The Tennessee Department of Health has granted permission for WCS school nurses to administer the COVID-19 vaccine to employees when the doses become available.

Although there is no timetable for when that might happen, district staff are moving forward with plans for the administration of the vaccine. Williamson County is currently in the 1a1, 1a2 and 75+ category. WCS will not receive the vaccine until Williamson County moves into the 1b category.

Once that happens and the vaccine becomes available, vaccinations will take place at Independence High School on Friday afternoons and Saturdays depending on the amount of the vaccine that is given to the district. These doses will only be made available to WCS employees who wish to receive one.

"I am so impressed with the hard work of our safety and security, nursing and COVID response leadership in securing the approval for our school nurses to administer vaccines to our staff," said Superintendent Jason Golden. "That staff has spent many hours planning for that involved process to begin when dosages become available."

WCS Executive Director of COVID-19 Gary Anderson says the district's plan would not be possible without the work of Safety and Security Director Mike Fletcher and Clinical Nurse Supervisor Mandi Thompson.

"They blazed the trail for WCS to be a vaccination site," said Anderson. "We also could not have made this possible without the support of the Technology Department, the Maintenance Department and Independence High School's administration. They have put in the time and effort to help all the WCS staff get the protection from the virus they deserve as soon as possible."

Anderson noted that other counties have already moved to the 1b phase and many WCS employees have traveled to those locations to receive their vaccinations.

More details will be sent to WCS employees with instructions on signing up and receiving the vaccine in the coming weeks.