St. Cloud State University Medical Clinic administered its first COVID-19 vaccines on campus April 14. St. Cloud State Medical Clinic staff administered Moderna vaccine to students and employees alongside Nursing faculty and students.
St. Cloud State and the campus Medical Clinic has been partnering with Stearns County since the pandemic began to plan and advocate for safety measures and to advocate for testing and the vaccine, said Brent Nielsen, Medical Clinic director.
Stearns County was able to provide a small number of doses for campus to administer, and St. Cloud State first reached out to its essential workers and then opened up the appointments more broadly for students.
“It’s a great opportunity to have free vaccine on our campus without barriers, administered by the professional staff at the SCSU Medical Clinic, Nielsen said. “This is exactly why we are here. We’re excited to be able to do this for our students, and I’m not aware of many other student led clinics in our state who are able to make this happen.”
It took a lot to get campus to this point. First the Medical Clinic had to register to be a vaccine provider and then negotiate with the state and local public health services to get access to the vaccine.
“We’re getting to students on college campuses. The sooner we get more of our campus vaccinated, the easier it will be to imagine a safer campus environment for next fall,” Nielsen said. “CDC has already changed guidelines for quarantine by removing the guideline to quarantine after exposure to COVID-19 for fully vaccinated persons. That alone will make work, travel, in-person classes and campus life much easier for many of us.”
St. Cloud State has set up a survey for students and employees interested in signing up for future St. Cloud State vaccine opportunities.
Students, faculty and staff also have the option of scheduling an appointment in the community including:
- CentraCare: Call CentraCare at 320-200-3200 or schedule online COVID Vaccination Appointment Scheduling | CentraCare.
- The Vaccine Connector continues to be a tool that helps Minnesotans find out when, where and how to get a COVID-19 vaccine. MDH opened a semi-permanent vaccine site at River’s Edge Convention Center. The Vaccine Connector is a primary source for appointments.
- The Federal Retail Pharmacy Program for COVID-19 Vaccination is a collaboration between the federal government, states and territories, and 21 national pharmacy partners and independent pharmacy networks for access to the COVID-19 vaccine. Local pharmacies participating in this program include, but are not limited to:
- Costco
- CVS
- Hy-Vee
- Walmart
- Sam’s Club
- Walgreens
- Thrifty White
