The Bill Gatton College of Pharmacy, in collaboration with ETSU Health and Ballad Health, have been sending ETSU pharmacy students out to help distribute the region’s first round of COVID-19 vaccines.
The Food and Drug Administration approved the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in December, and the government and medical providers have been slowly rolling out the vaccine to approved populations.
ETSU pharmacy students were given the opportunity to assist in the distribution of the vaccine and were also extended the opportunity to receive the vaccine.
Patients would receive confirmation that they were approved for the vaccine and would arrive at their respective locations to register to receive the vaccine. After registration, they would get in line to receive the vaccine, where they would go over name, date of birth and verify the patient is ready for the first dose.
“They go over your registration papers of if you’ve ever had a reaction to any vaccines before your allergies,” said Erin Gorzka, a third-year pharmacy student who volunteered at the Johnson City Medical Center. “And they kind of let you know how long you have to wait before you can leave, and 90% of people just have to wait about 15 minutes.”
Gorzka has received her first dose of the vaccine, and fellow pharmacy student Dawnna Metcalfe has received both doses.
“They allowed each health care student to go and get their vaccine with the rest of the Ballad Health employees, and so I jumped in line, got my first dose,” said Metcalfe. “I had a sore arm, nothing really else happened, and then the second dose, I had a little bit more side effects. I just kind of felt cold and dizzy the next day, but nothing awful. And it was only for like 24 hours, and then I felt fine.”
Health professionals are imploring people to speak with their doctors and do research before coming to conclusions about the vaccine based off misinformation being spread around social media
“In my personal opinion and my personal professional opinion, any kind of side effect that you would get from the vaccine most likely would be less than what you would get if you were to actually get over it [COVID-19],” said Metcalfe.
