Haverford College Launches Campus Vaccination Program

Haverford College is bringing the two-part COVID vaccines to campus. As part of a new campus vaccination program, on April 7, students, staff, and faculty received their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine in the Gardner Integrated Athletics Center (GIAC). The Moderna vaccine will be offered next week.

All Haverford community members who have not already received any doses of any COVID-19 vaccine are eligible to participate in the campus program. The College expects to have enough doses to immunize all students, staff, and faculty, including those who have not been approved to be on campus this semester. 500 Haverford community members received their first dose on the first day of clinic appointments. 

“From the beginning of the pandemic, we have made it a priority for Haverford to support the health and wellbeing of our students, staff, and faculty—and all those with whom we interact. It is just outstanding—and even a little hard to believe—that so many people’s hard work and our good fortune will culminate in about 1,500 people being vaccinated against COVID-19 here on campus. Kudos to everyone who contributed to this unmitigated success,” said President Wendy Raymond. “We can now plan for the coming academic year with even greater confidence in returning to many of the elements of the on-campus, in-person Haverford experience we value so deeply.”
 
Since both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines require two doses given 21 and 28 days apart, respectively, the College’s vaccination program consists of three sets of paired dates. Haverford community members are able to schedule both of their appointments at the same time. 

“The Office of Human Resources and the Dean's Office is ecstatic about the opportunity to vaccinate our campus community—staff, faculty, and students—to ensure a safe and healthy working and learning environment,” said T. Muriel Brisbon, director of human resources. “It certainly provides the College with an advantage in solidifying our long-awaited full return to campus.” 

“Thankfully, [Director of Clinical Services] Kathy McGovern had the foresight to partner with Rite Aid in the fall for an onsite flu vaccination clinic,” said Dean for Student Health and Learning Resources Kelly Wilcox. “This established relationship allowed the current clinic to be planned and implemented in an incredibly efficient manner. We are also grateful to our partners in Human Resources, IITS,  and the small team of volunteers from the Student Life Division, who made this a possibility.” 

The campus vaccination program is possible thanks to a partnership with Rite Aid, whose pharmacists will be administering the vaccines in the GIAC at all of the scheduled appointments. With Pennsylvania accelerating its vaccine roll-out timeline, the state is now in Phase 1B, which includes education workers and people living in congregate settings, such as a residential college campus. It expands to 1C on April 12, and on April 19, all Pennsylvania residents will be eligible for the vaccine. 

“I was hoping to get vaccinated before this semester ends, and I was really relieved to hear that the College was going to provide vaccines as soon as this week,” said Reesha Gandhi, a first-year from Mumbai, India, who received her first dose yesterday in the GIAC. “Back home, the cases are extremely high, higher than they've ever been, so knowing that I will be going back in the summer vaccinated definitely makes me feel more comfortable, especially since I live in a joint family with my grandparents. I really appreciate how smooth the vaccination process was, and how readily available the College made it for us.” 

As vaccines are distributed on campus, the College’s COVID safety protocols will remain in place, and the required, twice-monthly COVID testing will continue.