By LANEY COOK, Student Reporter
Dozens of Northwestern students and faculty were vaccinated during an on-campus clinic March 24.
The Woods County Health Department and Northwestern Oklahoma State University teamed up to allow students and university employees to get their first rounds of the COVID-19 vaccination. The clinic took place in Percefull Fieldhouse.
Students in Northwestern’s nursing program helped administer vaccines.
Ashley Ferguson, a nurse at the Woods County Health Department, said 122 people got their first rounds of the vaccine that day.
She said a second vaccination clinic will be on campus April 22. Health officials will send out a code the week before to university administrators so that students and faculty can select a time slot for an appointment.
Oklahoma has moved into Phase 4 of its vaccine distribution plan, meaning all Oklahomans over the age of 16 can be immunized against the virus.
Ferguson said those who are under the age of 18 must have a parental guardian with them while taking the vaccine.
“For getting the vaccination pod here on campus at the time, we were able to get it done and do it the way we did,” Calleb Mosburg, Northwestern’s dean of student affairs, said. “I think, with the efficiency we had, it turned out really well.”
Other Oklahoma colleges, including Southwestern Oklahoma State University, Rogers State University and Oklahoma Panhandle State University, have also hosted vaccination pods on their campuses, Mosburg said.
Ferguson said Southwestern Oklahoma State University’s pharmacy program and the Custer County Health Department collaborate with local health departments to distribute vaccinations.
Mosburg said the vaccination clinic will hopefully kick-start the process of loosening coronavirus restrictions on campus.
“I think getting back to normal is a hope for everybody,” Mosburg said. “I know it’s a hope for us.”
Ferguson said the state’s number of active coronavirus cases has decreased since vaccination clinics started.
“It’s still important to wear a mask and practice social distancing since not everyone has gotten vaccinated,” Ferguson said. “But this will really help to slow it down even more.”
Mosburg said he was happy with the turnout at the clinic but wishes more people had been vaccinated.
“Overall, I thought it went really well,” Mosburg said. “I was very thankful for the health department, the nursing program, the students and NSA kids, and folks that stopped by and helped us out.”