Second Doses of Pfizer Vaccine Being Administered on Campus

The UWG COVID-19 Vaccination Program allows students, faculty and staff to receive vaccinations on campus throughout the spring and summer semesters of 2021. Any UWG student or employee who is 16 years of age or older may request an appointment to receive the vaccine. 

“We like every other institution have been affected by the pandemic,” said Director of Strategic Communications, Colton Campbell. “We really wanted to offer the university community an option that would be convenient for them. We’ve also really focused on making sure that we’re administering the vaccines in a safe and efficient manner.”  

In March, UWG received their first allocation of doses from Pfizer-BioNTech, with 1,033 doses distributed at this point within the university. The UWG Health Services clinical staff and Tanner Health System School of Nursing faculty members and students are helping administer the vaccine. Undergraduate nursing students are supervised by faculty. Campbell says it is great to see experiential learning opportunities occur for the nursing students. 

Vaccination appointments are provided at the UWG Coliseum and are set up in concourse to avoid face-to-face interactions with other patients. Students, faculty and staff interested in receiving the vaccine can request an appointment through emails sent by the university.

It is recommended that recipients of the vaccine devote 45 minutes to the appointment. There are dedicated parking spots in front of The Coliseum for patients. Once patients enter the event, they fill out forms, check in, receive the vaccine, experience a 15 minute wait period (per CDC recommendations) and then exit the building through another door. 

“It’s just a one way loop around The Coliseum,” says Campbell. “Efficiency in trying to get as many people as we can through in a given amount of time has been huge for us. We’ve tried to make it where approximately 25-30 people come through every 15 minutes.”

The university is currently in the process of distributing the second dose of the vaccine. Within a few weeks time, both doses of the vaccine will be administered. For program updates, the university recommends closely monitoring your email and trusting only official UWG communications or information posted directly on the UWG COVID-19 website. The university is thrilled to offer this service to the UWG community. 

“This is tremendous news for our university community, as we are now able to begin inoculating individuals on our campus against COVID-19,” said UWG President, Dr. Brendan Kelly. “As we look toward the Fall 2021 semester, the availability of vaccines and the success we have had in slowing the spread of COVID-19 on our campus will be integral to our plans for the full complement of in-person classes and an enhanced suite of student services, activities and events.”