Not everyone happy with the push to vaccinate teachers (especially if it’s at the expense of others’ place in line) 

The Biden administration is defending the president’s decision to prioritize vaccinations for teachers and school staff.

Critics charge it will deepen inequalities around vaccine access and allege President Biden is bowing to pressure from teachers unions.

The plan, announced Tuesday, uses the administration’s partnership with pharmacies to prioritize giving educators at least one dose of a coronavirus vaccine this month.

Céline Gounder, an infectious diseases specialist and epidemiologist at New York University who advised the Biden transition team on COVID-19, tweeted that the move “doesn’t make any sense.”

Gounder argued that older, at-risk teachers should already be getting vaccinated under current priority groups. She noted pharmacies are not getting any additional allocations.

Without extra supply, Gounder said pharmacies would be “taking vaccine away from higher-risk persons & communities of color to vaccine young healthy teachers. This is an ANTI-EQUITY move.”