After a comfortable experience with the first dose of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine on April 24, students returned three weeks later to become fully vaccinated. Volunteers and staff put forth an effort to make the experience less-stressful for those receiving their second dose.
According to senior Camryn Hartman, the vaccination clinic that was hosted by the high school had a community feel. The event consisted of staffers and adults volunteering to vaccinate the students.
“I was able to talk with the volunteers, some of whom I know, and they were super nice so that made my experience better,” Hartman said.
Vaccinated adults are volunteering at clinics to help pharmacies, or in this case schools. These volunteers are performing tasks including vaccinating people, running the registration desk, observing, traffic control, distributing the vaccine and providing data entry. All volunteers who were vaccinating had to have some sort of professional healthcare license.
“Now that more people are vaccinated I feel like they are happy to help out,” school nurse Bonnie Miller said.
The process to organize the clinic was complicated. The high school had to partner with the local Rann Pharmacy, but before confirming anything they had to make sure the pharmacy was able to distribute the correct amount of vaccines. A survey was sent out to see how many people would actually be interested in a clinic.
“I just signed up online, they gave me a time and all I had to do was show up. I was very comfortable just because it was a simple process,” senior Prem Patel said.
Many students agree that the vaccination process was a good experience; even those who dislike shots were still comfortable with the clinic. Junior Riley Randall believes that a major reason the clinic wasn’t a bad experience was because of all the volunteers.
“A lot of teachers that I used to have were volunteering and that was very welcoming,” Randall said.
After receiving the shot, the person getting vaccinated had to wait for 15 minutes before leaving. During this time, volunteers were wandering around the tables handing out stickers, starting up conversations and being kind to those waiting.
“I think the environment is relaxed, especially because people are just waiting to get this done,” Miller said. “I found that throughout all of my clinics, whether they like shots or not, they are happy to have some sense of normalcy once vaccinated.”