Temple vaccine clinic wraps up fourth week

The White Hall vaccine clinic started administering second doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine yesterday.

People wait in line outside of James S. White Hall to receive the COVID-19 vaccine on April 7. | ALLIE IPPOLITO / THE TEMPLE NEWS

Amy Friedman got her second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to protect her elderly neighbors.

“We do it for each other, that is the essence of community,” said Friedman, an English professor. 

Friedman was one of dozens of people who received their second doses of the Pfizer vaccine at Temple University’s six-week COVID-19 vaccine clinic at White Hall today.

Temple vaccinated 2,754 students, faculty, staff and city residents in the first three weeks of the clinic, during which it administered first doses of the Pfizer vaccine, The Temple News reported

The university started vaccinating students, faculty and staff at White Hall on March 31 and Philadelphia residents on April 1. Temple began administering second doses yesterday and will continue to do so for the clinic’s last two weeks. 

The Pfizer vaccine requires two doses administered at least 21 days apart, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

People who have yet to receive their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine should visit other vaccine clinics because the university is only administering second doses at the moment, wrote Mark Denys, director of Student Health Services, in an email to Temple students on April 20. 

The university is administering second doses to a very small number of people who did not get their first dose at Temple, but these instances are uncommon and people should try to get both their doses at the same place, Denys wrote in an email to The Temple News. 

The university receives 1,100 doses of the Pfizer vaccine each week from the city. About half the doses are intended for students, faculty and staff and the other half for city residents, The Temple News reported.

Vaccine eligibility was expanded to all Philadelphia residents 16 years and older on April 16, The Temple News reported

Students, faculty and staff who received first doses at Temple’s clinic registered through the university’s vaccine interest form, while residents used the city’s vaccine interest form

Philadelphia residents can sign up for appointments directly to get vaccinated at city vaccine clinics. The vaccination clinics at the Pennsylvania Convention Center and the Esperanza Academy Charter School take walk-ins, 6ABC reported.

Friedman expected to not get an appointment until the summer but was pleased with how quickly Temple responded after she filled out the interest form, she said. 

“The day that my first appointment was April Fool’s Day and I had to remind myself that morning that, yes, it was legitimately my turn, I wasn’t jumping the queue or taking anyone else’s spot,” Friedman added. 

Once she is fully vaccinated, Friedman plans on doing bicycle rides for charities aimed at curing different types of cancer, she said. 

People are considered fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving the second dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or two weeks after receiving the single dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, according to the CDC.

For Nadiah Abdul, a grant analyst in the College of Engineering, getting vaccinated was the responsible thing to do. 

“I feel like it’s my part to do like, to be, to combat this virus,” Abdul said. 

Once she is fully vaccinated, Abdul plans on taking a trip to New York City with her friends, who are already fully vaccinated, she said. 

The CDC recommends that fully vaccinated people keep wearing masks and practicing social distancing in public and avoid large in-person gatherings, but they do not need to wear masks indoors with other fully vaccinated people. 

More than 708,000 Philadelphians are partially vaccinated and more than 465,790 are fully vaccinated as of April 22, according to the city’s vaccine dashboard

Philadelphia will achieve herd immunity when approximately 80 percent of the city’s population is vaccinated, The Temple News reported

In March, Health Commissioner Thomas Farley predicted that Philadelphia will reach herd immunity by June at its current rate of vaccination, 6ABC reported.

Leah Martin, a junior legal studies and human resource management major, decided to get vaccinated so she could see her extended family and friends again without a high risk of transmitting COVID-19, she said. 

“We missed a lot of like, birthdays, summer events and stuff,” Martin added. 

Once she is fully vaccinated, Martin plans to celebrate her friends’ and family’s birthdays that she missed last summer, she said. 

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