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GREENSBORO, N.C. — In less than 24 hours thousands of North Carolina teachers will get the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

As Triad health officials gear up for one of their largest vaccine clinics to date, teachers with appointments tell us they’re excited.

The day has finally arrived for Academy at Lincoln teacher Ashley Geise.

Geise is one of 3,000 educators in the Guilford County school district who signed up to set a shot this week.

“It’s a sense of relief, as we’re sitting here talking my heart’s racing a little bit, there’s that anticipation and excitement,” Geise said.

By Thursday evening, her mind will be at ease knowing she has the COVID vaccine.

“We want to feel safe in the classroom and this was an initiative where the educators came together and said we want to be in the classroom but we want to be vaccinated,” Geise said.

Geise, who has taught fourth and fifth grade for the past three years at GCS, is a single mom and worries about how her life would change if she got COVID.

“I did it for my two kids and being their primary caretaker,” Geise said.

Within days of Gov. Roy Cooper’s announcement about bumping teachers up toward the front of the line, Geise got a text to schedule her vaccine appointment and picked a time slot in minutes.

“It was a very seamless process. I was actually pretty surprised,” Geise said.

It is a process Guilford County Public Health officials have practiced and prepared for.

“We know that we’re going to have a lot of educators coming through our clinics so all of that data is going to be entered ahead of time… Making sure that we have the vaccine properly packaged and ready to go according to those appointments because we only take as much vaccine as we need to the clinics so making sure the vaccine is properly stored and packaged and ready to go,” said Dr. Iulia Vann, Guilford County Public Health director.

County health officials hope to vaccinate 10,000 educators over the next two weeks.

Geise says she’s excited to play a role in history.

“It’s a really neat thing to be a part of,” Geise said.

Teachers in Mt. Airy City Schools, Surry County Schools and Davidson County Schools will also get their first dose of the vaccine this week.