BOSTON (WHDH) - Dozens upon of dozens of Boston school bus drivers gathered on Tuesday morning to rally for access to COVID-19 vaccines as many schools across the Commonwealth prepare to reopen for full-time, in-person learning.
In addition to being moved up in the state’s vaccination line, the bus drivers say they want better safety protocols implemented and more access to testing, especially with the state now aiming to bring elementary school students back to class for full-time learning starting on April 1.
“We are afraid to come to work everyday but this our job, this our duty,” Boston Public Schools bus driver Marie Saintfort said.
Fellow bus driver Lesla Roseboro added, “We are frontline workers and we have not been vaccinated but they want us to drive the precious cargo, which are the students. We need to be safe for the students in order to transport them.”
There have been many documented cases of COVID-19 among bus drivers in Boston.
In an 8-3 vote last week, the Massachusetts Board of Education gave Education Commissioner Jeff Riley the emergency authority to reopen schools for in-person learning.
Last week, thousands of preschool through third grade students in Boston made their way back to the classroom for two-days-a-week in-person learning.
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