NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Metro Nashville Public Schools teachers and staff will begin receiving their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine on Saturday.
Metro teachers will be vaccinated at Vanderbilt’s Health Clinic at 100 Oaks. That vaccination site has been closed for several days and will be closed today, as well, due to the winter weather but will reopen on Saturday.
MNPS said Dr. Adrienne Battle, Director of Schools, will also be receiving the first dose of the Pfizer vaccine tomorrow.
The district said 4,500 out of nearly 14,000 eligible staff have booked their first appointment with Vanderbilt Health to receive the vaccine between Saturday and February 28, with 2,000 more appointments available during the week of March 1 through March 5.
"Additional appointment opportunities will be made available based on demand and the availability of vaccine supply provided through the Tennessee Department of Health," the district said in a release.
Last week, Metro announced that Vanderbilt University Medical Center will distribute the vaccinations to teachers and staff at Metro schools and charter schools. HCA TriStar health will distribute the vaccine to teachers and staff at Davidson County private schools and daycares.
So far, Metro Nashville has administered more than 135,000 doses of the vaccine and is nearly finished with all 75,000 of its Phase 1a recipients.
Earlier this week, the Tennessee Department of Health announced that it's preparing to move into the next phase of its vaccine distribution plan, which includes those aged 65 and older. However, Metro says it will begin vaccinations for those 65 and older once they make more progress with the 70 and older group.
Brian Todd, director of communications for Metro Public Health, said Nashville will remain in 70+ phase "for a few weeks."
