South Bend Schools holds vaccine clinic for teachers

SOUTH BEND, Ind.--- South Bend Community School Corporation partnered with Meijer on Portage Avenue to hold a clinic to vaccinate all of its faculty and staff for Covid-19 on Thursday. Faculty and staff of all ages were able to get the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine at the Brown Community Learning Center.

"We were in out very quickly even though it was a huge line," said Kurran Strunk, a teacher at Marquette Montessori Academy. "Everything went smoothly, Robert gave us our shots and I didn’t feel a thing and I’m excited that educators have been prioritized."

The clinic came one day after teachers across St. Joseph County rushed to the Meijer on Portage hoping to get vaccines after all scheduled appointments had been administered. 

"We were fans from the outset that teachers needed to be prioritized, and we were disappointed they were not," said Dr. Todd Cummings, Superintendent of Schools. "We believe they’re frontline workers and we needed our teachers vaccinated."

Teachers say they're relieved to know they'll be a little safer walking into class on Friday.

"I was almost in tears because our district has done this for us and hooked up with Meijer to do this for us," said Strunk. "I’m just thrilled."

There will be another clinic for South Bend Schools on March 25th for people to get their second dose of the vaccine.