WSU hosted a student Q&A session covering frequent concerns and questions regarding the COVID-19 vaccine Thursday evening.
The session was held via Zoom and featured a panel of experts knowledgeable about the topic. Equity and access to the vaccine was a common concern among several students.
Much of the hesitancy surrounding the vaccine is stemming from areas that do not have adequate knowledge about the vaccine and its effects, said Merrianneeta Nesbitt, WSU Office of Outreach and Education assistant director.
Nesbitt said rural communities and those with high populations of Latinx individuals are not being reached as thoroughly as they should in terms of COVID-19-related information and vaccination clinics.
Although, screening and arrival testing will be discontinued for the summer.
Students taking classes during the summer session in Pullman will not have to participate in arrival testing, they will have to abide by public health and safety requirements such as wearing facial coverings and maintaining physical distancing.
A majority of classes this summer will be conducted online, reducing the number of new students on campus and also eliminating the need for the type of arrival testing effort provided in the spring.
The last day of COVID-19 screening testing on the WSU Pullman campus for the Spring 2021 semester will be Tuesday, April 27. More information is available on the university’s COVID-19 website.
COVID-19 vaccine appointments are filling up quickly as vaccine eligibility expanded April 15 to all individuals over 16 years old in Washington state.
As of April 20, Whitman County has administered over 29,280 COVID-19 vaccination doses, according to the Washington State Department of Health’s COVID-19 data dashboard.
For those interested in scheduling an appointment, Pullman Regional Hospital, Palouse Medical and Schweitzer Engineering Laboratories, among others, currently offer vaccines to the Pullman community.
Pullman Regional Hospital
PRH, located at 835 SE Bishop Boulevard, will administer the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at its upcoming clinics, according to the hospital’s COVID-19 vaccine page.
Those over 18 years old are eligible to receive the Moderna vaccine, according to the vaccine’s Emergency Use Authorization fact sheet.
Although students taking classes during the summer session in Pullman will not have to participate in arrival testing, they will have to abide by public health and safety requirements such as wearing facial coverings.
The COVID-19 vaccine is available to anyone over 16 years old in Washington state, and many WSU students have already begun the process of becoming vaccinated.
In Whitman County, about 12,900 people, which is about 25.8 percent of the county population, have received at least one dose of the vaccine; 7,898 people, which is 15.8 percent, are fully vaccinated as of April 18, according to Covid Act Now.
Currently, there are several places in Pullman offering the vaccine, including Palouse Medical, Sid’s Pharmacy, Pullman Regional Hospital, Safeway and Cougar Health Services.
Kira Baruch, junior hospitality business management major, already received her first shot. Baruch said she is surprised people 16 and over can get the vaccine so soon.