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Welcome to the ECE Recap where you can find the
most recent and important information from the
Pennsylvania Office of Child Development and Early Learning (OCDEL).
Vaccinations and Continuing Safety Measures
The COVID-19 vaccine is another tool in our toolkit in the fight against COVID-19. People who are vaccinated still need to wear masks, wash hands, use hand sanitizer, physical distance and avoid small and large gatherings. Individuals will be much more protected and can have that comfort that they will have a lesser chance to catch COVID-19 and/or a less severe case if they do get COVID-19. OCDEL anticipates it will take significant time to get through the vaccination phases and have community spread go down significantly. Until that time, OCDEL needs everyone to continue all of the safety measures that are in effect now. More information regarding vaccines can be found at Vaccine FAQs (pa.gov).

As a reminder, no one can be required to be vaccinated. ECE programs should not ask for proof of COVID-19 vaccination as a safety precaution. It is not a requirement of the CDC, DOH, DHS or OCDEL. Vaccination records are protected health information that are not required to be disclosed. Concerns regarding ECE programs requesting proof of vaccination should be emailed to ra-dpwocdnet@pa.gov.
CDC Conducting COVID-19 Vaccination Survey for Child Care Providers
On March 2, 2021, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services directed states and territories to get all teachers, school personnel, child care program educators, and other child care program staff members their first coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccination by the end of the month. To help monitor progress toward this goal, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is conducting a survey to learn about your attitudes and behaviors regarding COVID-19 vaccination. The survey should take only 5–10 minutes to complete. Your participation is completely voluntary. No personally identifying information will be collected, and your responses will be kept confidential.
 
If you agree to participate, please complete this National COVID-19 Vaccination Survey. If you receive the link multiple times, please complete the survey just once. The survey closes on March 31, 2021.
ECE Special Initiative for Janssen, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 Vaccine Update
Thank you to all early childhood education (ECE) professionals who participated in the ECE Special Initiative for Janssen, Johnson & Johnson (J&J) COVID-19 Vaccine by completing the ECE Registration Request Form by the March 19, 2021, deadline. The survey is now closed. Individuals that did not sign up in this initiative are able to schedule independently through local participating pharmacies or their health care provider.

Information collected in the J&J Vaccine ECE Registration Request Form has been provided to the Department of Health and is being assigned to Retail Pharmacy Partners (RPP) for follow up. ECE workers will be contacted by one of the local RPP to schedule vaccinations using the additional, separate allocations of J&J vaccine RPP receive from the federal government. Each local RPP may handle scheduling differently. Directors should share with their program staff, that RPP will be reaching out based on the shared contact information. 

Those interested in receiving the vaccine, independent of this Special Initiative, can locate vaccine providers by visiting the Department of Health's interactive Vaccine Provider Map.
Call for Presenters: 2021 Early Childhood Summit
The Pennsylvania Head Start Association (PHSA) and Pennsylvania Child Care Association (PACCA) have announced the Call for Presenters for the 2021 Early Childhood Summit to be held October 18-20, 2021. All proposals must be submitted no later than 5:00 pm on Friday, June 25, 2021. Learn more.