May 2021 Advocate: Faculty Survey: Vaccinated?

AFT 1493 Faculty Survey: Who’s vaccinated?

AFT 1493 vaccine survey reveals more than 90% of members have received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine

by Marianne Kaletzky, AFT 1493 Executive Secretary

Earlier this month, our Local took a survey of SMCCD faculty with the intention of determining whether our members might need help accessing appointments to get a Covid vaccine. The survey was sent out by AFT Campus Chairs on Thursday, April 15th, with a deadline of Monday, April 19th. Despite our short turnaround time, we were happy to see a very high response rate: out of about 880 current faculty, 387, or 44%, completed the survey.

Of those 387 SMCCD faculty members:

  • 330 (85.7%) said they were fully vaccinated against Covid-19.
  • 26 (6.8%) said they were partially vaccinated.
  • 29 (7.5%) said they had not been vaccinated.
  • 2 skipped the question.

34 faculty answered the second question, which asked faculty who had not received at least one dose of a Covid vaccine what the reason was. (Only 29 faculty had not been vaccinated, but some faculty who had been partially vaccinated answered this question as well.) Of these 34:

  • 5 (14.7%) said they had an appointment already scheduled.
  • 6 (17.7%) said they were not able to schedule an appointment.
  • 9 (26.5%) said they did not plan to be vaccinated for health reasons.
  • 14 (41.2%) said they did not plan to be vaccinated for other reasons.

The primary intention of the survey was to assist our Local’s newly formed Solidarity Committee in determining how best to support members who might want to receive a vaccine but have been unable to schedule an appointment. Based on the survey data, the vast majority of members who want to receive a vaccine have been able to secure an appointment. In fact, our Local’s percentage of members who have either been vaccinated or have an appointment—92%—exceeds the percentage of educators nationally with a vaccine or appointment, according to a survey commissioned by our nationwide union, the American Federation of Teachers. That survey, whose data AFT released April 6th, showed 81% of educators with either a vaccine or appointment; however, that percentage may have risen significantly since the data was collected.

Both the San Mateo Labor Council and our statewide union, the California Federation of Teachers, have resources to make sure educators who want vaccines are able to receive them, including providing appointment sign-up codes. SMCCD faculty who want an appointment but have not been able to make one should reach out to AFT Executive Secretary Marianne Kaletzky.

The AFT 1493 Solidarity Committee was formed to address members’ unmet needs in housing, healthcare, and other areas. Members include Kolo Wamba, Monica Malamud, Katharine Harer, and Jessica Silver-Sharp.