ALABAMA – As the COIVD-19 vaccine rollout continues across Alabama, communities are finding out they will need all the help they can get.
Some colleges and universities are preparing to step in.
This week, Jacksonville State University faculty helped with injections and other tasks at the Anniston City Meeting Center.
Soon, JSU students will be able to lend a hand.
“We hope that when the second round of vaccinations occurs in early February that we’re able to assist,” Dr. Betsy Gulledge, Chief Nursing Administrator at Jacksonville State University said. “We’re willing to assist.”
Dr. Gulledge also serves as the Associate Dean of the School of Health Professions and Wellness.
Organizers for the clinic see the extra help as necessary.
It will help free up time for professional healthcare workers to tend to other matters like COVID-19 patients inside hospitals.
“They’re really busy right now, at capacity in their COVID units and have had to make changes to their operation,” Myles Chamblee, Planning Section Chief of the Calhoun County Unified Command said. “So this is really helpful and instrumental in getting this vaccine out to the community because that’s how it’s going to make that difference.”
Gadsden State Community College in Etowah County and the University of Alabama are also prepared to help with COVID-19 vaccination clinics in their communities, if needed.
“It goes beyond any individual agency, any school,” Gulledge said. “It’s not about JSU nursing. It’s about what’s best for our community that we serve and the people that live here and what impact we can make to help Calhoun County.”
JSU students can volunteer with the COVID-19 vaccination clinics for course credit in February.
That’s when people who received their first dose this week will need to get the second dose of the vaccine.
