15 Miami-Dade educators die from COVID-19 in 10 days

[left-of-center2012]

Source: NBC-2 TV Ft Myers, Fla

Fifteen staffers of the Miami-Dade County Public Schools District have died from COVID-19 in the past 10 days, officials said.

Sonia Diaz, a spokesperson for several unions in the school district, confirmed the number of deaths to affiliate NBC6.

One of the educators that lost their life to COVID-19 was Abe Coleman, a teacher for more than 30 years. “It’s a tremendous loss. The number of lives that he impacted are countless. So many young men had the benefit of him intervening in their lives and pointing them in the right direction,” said Marcus Bright, with 5000 Role Models of Excellence.

Coleman was also a mentor and Site Director for the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Program, overseeing the Holmes Elementary location. He helped shape the lives of hundreds of young men over the years in the organization that mentors minority men in Miami-Dade County.

Officials haven’t released the identities of the other teachers or staff members, and a Miami-Dade County Public Schools spokesperson said the district doesn’t release the cause of death for employees or students.

Read more: https://nbc-2.com/news/health/covid/2021/09/03/15-miami-dade-educators-die-from-covid-19-in-10-days/

---

Congresswoman Fredricka Wilson, the founder of 5000 Role Models, released a statement saying, in part:

“Mr. Abe Coleman was a highly motivated, dedicated, and inspirational Site Director for the Holmes Elementary Role Models Chapter and never missed a day. The pandemic did not deter him.“

Abe Coleman leaves behind a wife, son and countless men he inspired.

[onecaliberal]

1. What in the actual fuck?

[Faux pas]

2. Kickin'

with and

[former9thward]

3. Why weren't they vaccinated?

[FarPoint]

8. Since I am in Ohio....

a shit state all the same but not with a Governor Death- Santis type....thinking, any unvaccinated teachers may not be getting easy access to vaccinations and the megaphone is apparently very loud against vaccination....resulting in more infections...

I can't imagine the level of misinformation and social peer pressure not to vaccinate as I sense it is in Florida...Just a thought.

[LisaL]

9. From what Florida DUers have posted, vaccines are plentiful in Florida.

So my guess is those would be vaccine hesitant, who hesitated until it was too late for them.

[former9thward]

11. You can get a vaccination anywhere in the country.

No appointments, no payments, nothing. So that is not a reason. "Peer pressure" is not a reason either. Vaccination takes about 15 minutes at the most and no knows you had a shot.

[FarPoint]

13. I was just thinking of the mindset of others...

I myself am pure as they come with clinical rationale as an RN over 20 years with a background in Community Health/ Critical Care and Autoimmune Disease...so, I have to try and look at it from another aspect of the patient...

I just can't seem to grasp their hesitancy ....I struggle with this as it is so illogical.

[LisaL]

14. One can get vaccinated now with minimal effort.

So that's not the reason for not being vaccinated.

[cinematicdiversions]

34. Almost all of the rich and educated here in Florida are vaccinated (Republicans and democrats)

The people who tend not to be vaccinated at this point. (The bottom 35%) tend to be poor and uneducated.

It is often as much a class and education divide as political. Since the Republicans tend to be poor and uneducated they invariably dominate the unvaccinated numbers. But to have educated middle-class professionals skip the vaccine is an outlier.

[Rebl2]

10. My question too

[radical noodle]

17. I wondered the same thing n/t

[BumRushDaShow]

4. Damn that is heart-breaking

and he was 55. Found an article with some additional info that I had been looking for and unfortunately suspected -

3 Miami-Dade Educators Die From COVID-19; District Doubles Down on Mask Policy

By Alyssa Hyman • Published September 1, 2021 • Updated on September 2, 2021 at 10:17 am
2:13/ 2:23


Three educators from Miami-Dade County Public Schools have died within a week due to COVID-19, the teachers union confirmed Wednesday.

Karla Hernandez-Mats, the president of the United Teacher of Dade, said it appears the teachers got sick before the start of the school year but is still waiting to confirm that. They were not vaccinated.

"I can tell you that these were phenomenal human beings. These are people that dedicated their lives to serving our community," Hernandez-Mats said. Among those who passed was beloved math teacher Abe Coleman, who had been with the district for more than 30 years. He was also a mentor with the 5000 Role Models of Excellence Project.

"We're going to be grieving for a while," Hernandez-Mats said. "As a teacher, I have to make sure the message is that we're teaching our community to be safe, to continue to socially distance, to wash your hands, but please, get vaccinated."

https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/schools-and-covid/3-miami-dade-educators-die-from-covid-19-district-doubles-down-on-mask-policy/2542578/

[orleans]

18. why wasn't coleman vaccinated? what a fucking cryin shame nt

[BumRushDaShow]

21. Unfortunately there are still a lot of people like him out there

At this point in the pandemic - over 1 1/2 years - I am thinking there is a subset of people who "hesitated" or didn't prioritize getting the shot when it was made available. So figuring that they "survived" unscathed the previous year when there was no vaccine, they assumed they would be fine now.

This mentality is sort of like the flu shot - for example I found this stat where only 49% of people got the flu shot for the 2018/2019 season - https://usafacts.org/articles/how-many-americans-get-flu-shots-vaccine-cdc/. And what happens in that case, if they did get the flu, they were miserable but unless they really had some underlying respiratory issues prior, they recovered, didn't die, and didn't have any long-term damage to their body.

But queue the Delta variant for COVID-19 and all those "assumptions" about being "in the clear", and having no problem "recovering" without any long term damage (since they "recovered" from a flu infection in the past), let alone dismissing the higher potential for death (vs the flu), were wrong.

So I think you do have those who don't normally get flu shots (not counting any who medically cannot do so) not bothering with a COVID-19 one.

[LiberatedUSA]

22. That probably is pretty close to the mark with some of these people.

[BumRushDaShow]

23. I was thinking of it as how some people assess "risk"

There are quite a few out there who tolerate more "risk" (in whatever they do) and often feel a sense of "superiority" because they think others are running around with their hair on fire, while they believe themselves to be "the adult in the room".

That mentality spills over into not taking COVID-19 (and particularly its more lethal variants) seriously enough. One doesn't have to go hyperbolic about it but dismissing it outright, without giving it the respect it is due by considering "common sense" precautions, is a foolish decision.

[orleans]

26. i don't normally get a flu shot

i actually did get one a couple years ago, probably 2018/2019 season.

so i'm in that particular category of flu shot indifference

however, it was apples and oranges when it came to comparing it to the covid vaccine (in my mind)

i couldn't wait to get the covid vaccine

but perhaps that apples to oranges was due, in part, to the news i was hearing (not fox) and who i was believing (not trump who said it was like the flu)

[BumRushDaShow]

27. I expect most think like you

and make continual assessments of personal risk to yourself and probably how your decision could impact others.

For others, it might come down to past medical history or health experiences as I have known many over the years who always claimed to have "never gotten sick" during their lifetimes. I.e., they were the kid who had "perfect attendance" at school or the adult who "never missed a day of work". And it's possible that the statement is true for a few if their immune systems are highly tuned for whatever (possibly genetic) reasons and/or whatever illness they might have contracted was not enough to knock them out on their backs.

But then this might fuel a false sense of "invincibility" to any illness and when it comes to the more contagious and lethal COVID-19 variants, that is the worst type of mentality to have.

[DemocraticPatriot]

5. The Right hates public school teachers...

You know, I think I could be starting to see one motivation for the "no mask mandate" stances of the fascist governors of Florida and Texas....

The teachers and other adults in schools are clearly faring worse than the students, because COVID hits the adults harder (although yes, that is starting to change some).

DeSantis and Abbott and any other GOP governors following their types of pro-covid policies are clearly murderers.
I won't apologize for hoping that they get what's coming to them.

"And that right soon"

[Evolve Dammit]

12. It is calculated, pre-meditated homicide. They want educators to die and students are collateral.

It's pretty clear, albeit abhorrent to the point that most can't fathom the depth of their sociopathic depravity. How else do you explain it?

[cinematicdiversions]

33. Yes but these teachers were unvaccinated, according to some profiles obese and got sick before

school started.

I hate DeSantis as well but he isn't stopping a well educated 55 year old African American male from getting vaccinated in the last nine months.

That I am afraid is on the individual.

[yaesu]

6. how long will the fascists be immune to murder charges, they continue to be above the law. nt

[bucolic_frolic]

7. An exponential crisis looms

unless some very good and unlikely happenstance intervenes.

[Jose Garcia]

15. Yet the teachers' unions in South FL won't support mandatory vaccinations

[monkeyman1]

16. we have kid's in floriduh , they call it the state of death !

[orleans]

19. oh my god--that's hardly reassuring. that would certainly be keeping me up at night, worrying nt

[masmdu]

20. Maybe Mr. Coleman's death can have

as large an impact as his life did by serving as an example of how important it is get vaccinated!

[Indykatie]

24. Sad About These Deaths But It's Ridiculous that Any Teacher is Not Vaccinated.

All 15 may not have been un-vaccinated but I bet the majority were because vaccinated folks rarely die from COVID.

[left-of-center2012]

25. If these teachers were not vaccinated ..

How many people did they put at risk?

[Maggiemayhem]

28. Why assume they were not vaccinated?

There are breakthrough cases that result in death. That is why we are getting boosters and why masking and social distancing is so important. The only way to stop this is for holdouts to get the jab. Vaccines are not 100%. I live in WV with a low vaccine rate and no mask mandate. You see where our state is heading. WV has had breakthrough deaths.

[LisaL]

31. Nobody is assuming anything, that is what being reported.

"Miami-Dade County Public Schools teachers who decided not to receive the protection of any of the three COVID-19 vaccines that are available for free are dying. Miami-Dade Superintendent Alberto Carvalho said he has a “strong” message for teachers: “Get vaccinated!”"

https://www.local10.com/news/local/2021/09/01/3-unvaccinated-miami-dade-teachers-die-of-covid-19-union-rep-says/

[sarcasmo]

30. DeSantis belongs in prison for life.

[BlueWavePsych]

32. DeathSantis ...