Cal U. begins vaccinating students against COVID-19
Zach Frailey/For the Observer-Reporter
Cal U. mascot Blaze receives his COVID-19 vaccine.
Zach Frailey/For the Observer-Reporter
Zach Frailey/For the Observer-Reporter
Alison Daniels, a senior communications major, receives her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at a free clinic at California University’s Convocation Center last month.
California University of Pennsylvania began vaccinating students Friday against COVID-19 before some of them return home for summer break.
Mon Valley Hospital and student nurses from Allegheny County Community College administered 150 Pfizer doses to students in the first campus effort to get them vaccinated, Cal U. spokeswoman Christine Kindl said.
“We know that students who live far from campus may prefer to find appointments closer to home,” Kindl said. “But many of our students live in the area and are more than willing to come back for their second dose.”
The clinic will not only help to make the students safer from the virus, but they will also protect the people they go home to, Kindl said.
The university also held a clinic in mid-March to vaccinate staff members, having distributed about 400 doses. Kindl said some members of the university community have already been vaccinated elsewhere.
As a state-owned university, Cal U. cannot require students to be inoculated against the virus.
There have been more than 7.7 million doses of the vaccines distributed in Pennsylvania, with more than 3 million people fully vaccinated, the state Health Department said Friday.
The state reported 4,188 new virus cases Friday, bringing the cumulative total since March 2020 to 1,126,854.
There were 59 new statewide virus deaths announced, including two in Washington County.
Washington County reported 52 new virus cases, taking its total to 16,576. Fayette County saw 26 new cases added to its total of 12,185. Greene County’s case-count grew by two to 3,113.