Saint Louis University Begins Holding COVID-19 Vaccination Clinics

03/16/2021

Saint Louis University’s first large-scale COVID-19 vaccination event drew “happy tears” from members of the community who were eligible to receive their first shot.

“Everyone was greatly appreciative,” said Deborah Artman, assistant professor in the Trudy Busch Valentine School of Nursing and a member of SLU’s COVID-19 Vaccination Team. “There were lots of happy tears. Everything went smoothly.”

SLU volunteers have administered 1,144 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to students, faculty, staff, employees and employee household members who qualified for vaccination based on the State of Missouri’s priority phases and eligible tiers.

The vaccine clinic on Friday utilized 56 clinical volunteers from the Valentine School of Nursing and SLU’s physician assistant program.

Artman said many of these undergraduate students had already completed clinical requirements for their classes and were volunteering their own time to help with the event.

More than 30 non-clinical volunteers also participated in the clinics. They staffed the registration tables and assisted with scheduling appointments for the second dose of the vaccine.

The non-clinical volunteers came from academic units and departments across campus, including the College for Public Health and Social Justice, School of Nursing, Athletics, physician assistant program, isolation and quarantine housing team, contact tracing team, director of events and the Office of the President.

Vaccine Rollout

In January, Terri Rebmann, Ph.D., special assistant to the President, announced that SLU had formally applied with the State of Missouri to be a vaccine administration site. The University received a small amount of vaccine and held its first clinic March 5.

Following that clinic, SLU received many more doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, thanks to the tremendous support of the Missouri National Guard. Those additional doses allowed the University to begin scheduling vaccine clinics last week to distribute around 1,900 doses of vaccine.

Upcoming Clinics

The State of Missouri opened vaccinations up to those in Phase 1B, Tier 3 on Monday. SLU plans to hold an additional vaccine clinic from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Wednesday, March 17. Registration information went out Monday to those eligible under the new tier.

“Please fill out your eligibility survey if you haven’t done so already,” Artman said.

Details about upcoming clinics will be released as information is available. Check SLU’s Health Advisory site for the latest updates.