As students and teachers begin their summer vacation, San Juan Basin Public Health (SJBPH) thanks local school districts, educators, students, and families for their collaboration and cooperation over the course of an unprecedented school year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. School partners in both La Plata and Archuleta counties have demonstrated tremendous resilience and flexibility and SJBPH congratulates them on the end of their academic school year.
Whether it was adapting to online education, developing health and safety protocols for in-person learning, or collaborating with public health officials to implement testing and quarantine protocols, school district staff dedicated an enormous amount of time and resources toward keeping students, educators, and families safe. While there were some outbreaks and cases identified, schools were extremely successful overall in preventing the spread of COVID-19 and maintaining in-person learning. Preserving in-person learning helped support families, our local economy, and most importantly students who were able to receive the social, emotional, and academic benefits of being in the classroom with their peers and teachers. In addition, when COVID-19 vaccines were made available to educators in February, and later for youth, SJBPH and school districts effectively collaborated to administer the lifesaving vaccines efficiently and on an accelerated timeline.
“Our schools have been extremely supportive and great partners throughout the pandemic, and they were highly effective at limiting the spread of COVID in classrooms this school year,” said Liane Jollon, SJBPH Executive Director. “First and foremost, we want to thank students, their families, and teachers for their incredible resilience in making this unprecedented year a successful one for health, safety, and academics.12 to 17-year-olds are eligible for the Pfizer vaccine and we urge families to take advantage of this opportunity to get fully vaccinated as students head out for summer vacation and get ready for camps, activities, and what we hope will be a fun and restful summer for all,” Jollon added.
“We are grateful for the collaborative partnership with SJBPH throughout this pandemic. They have helped us navigate challenges throughout the year so that we could ensure our students and staff were safe and healthy. They were also instrumental in ensuring we could maximize our in-person learning time, which made a difference for our students and our families. Thank you to Lianne and her team for working with us throughout this year,” said Dr. Kym LeBlanc-Esparza, Superintendent of Archuleta School District.
“San Juan Basin Public Health has kept us well informed and supported us every step of the way through a school year with complex challenges presented by COVID. Most of all, we recognize our students, their families, and our staff for adapting to every curve ball thrown their way. We know COVID is still present in our community, so we urge everyone to have a safe, healthy, and enjoyable summer break,” said Dr. K. Kevin Aten, Superintendent of Bayfield School District.
“Our educators, students, and their families deserve so much credit in ensuring we had a safe and successful school year. Durango 9-R also wants to thank SJBPH for all that they’ve done to keep the community safe and work hand-in-hand with schools throughout the year. We hope that our families will choose to get the COVID vaccine if they haven’t already and we have school health staff available to answer questions that families may have,” said Dr. Heidi McMillan, Medical Director for Durango School District 9-R.
Youth ages 12 to 17 are currently eligible for the Pfizer vaccine, and 26% of this age group have received at least one dose of COVID vaccine across Archuleta and La Plata counties. SJBPH strongly urges families to find a Pfizer clinic on the SJBPH website and sign their eligible kids up for a vaccine appointment as soon as possible.
COVID is still spreading in the community, and youth activities (outside of the classroom) have been shown throughout the year to be a reoccurring setting for the spread of COVID-19. To build full immunity for upcoming summer camps and activities, SJBPH and local providers have planned ahead with Pfizer vaccine and are offering a wide range of convenient clinics in the coming days.
According to data collected by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) and SJBPH, an unvaccinated resident was 21 times more likely to get COVID-19 than a vaccinated person in Archuleta County and 12 times more likely in La Plata County (in data collected at the end of April). National studies mirror these local findings and show that COVID continues to spread among the unvaccinated population at comparable rates to last winter’s dramatic surge in COVID transmission.