NEW YORK, Dec 24 (Reuters) – U.S. states facing delays in coronavirus vaccination campaigns are urging medical and nursing students, and even firefighters, to cooperate with inoculations to release health workers fighting the pandemic in crowded hospitals.
At least seven state health departments are looking for volunteers for the campaign, some of whom partner with universities or nursing schools with incentives such as discounts on tuition and hands-on training. Others are teaching lifeguards to put on vaccines.
The national launch of COVID-19 vaccines is the best hope to end a pandemic that has claimed the lives of more than 320,000 people in the United States and paralyzed the world’s largest economy.
This month, U.S. regulators authorized the first two COVID-19 vaccines, one from Pfizer and one, and a modern one.
As of Wednesday, nearly 10 million doses had been delivered nationwide. However, due to lack of staff in hospitals and special requirements to prepare vaccines, only about 1 million had been applied.
The slowness of the vaccination campaign threatens the federal government’s goal of inoculating nearly 20 million people by the end of the year.
While inoculation is currently focused on front-line health workers, the campaign is expected to expand to tens of millions of essential workers in the industry as of January or February.
From New York to Tennessee, states expect medical and nursing students to release medical staff who focus on attending to the record number of new patients with COVID-19.
“Being able to staff vaccination clinics with volunteers from our reserve workforce means that staff at vaccination sites can continue to perform their normal tasks, which is crucial as our hospitalization rate has increased, “said a spokeswoman for Indiana University School of Medicine.
When the first vaccines arrived, Indiana health officials called the state university. More than 630 Indiana University medical and nursing students have signed up to volunteer and receive 90 minutes of hands-on, online training.
Fourth-year medical student Nicholas Clough began administering vaccines to front-line health workers last Wednesday.
“It felt like a real, tangible counterattack against COVID,” said Clough, 26, who has lost several relatives during the pandemic.
The University of Wisconsin offers a $ 500 tuition credit to students with medical credentials who work in understaffed hospitals during the winter break, including vaccine administration.
In California, paramedics from the fire department have been trained to administer the vaccine, initially to their co-workers.
Depending on the licensing laws of each state, medical and nursing students may administer vaccines, often under the supervision of a licensed professional.
On Dec. 13, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo allowed medical, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, podiatry and obstetrics students to be given flu and COVID-19 vaccines under supervision.
Report by Tina Bellon and Melissa Fares in New York; additional report by Deena Beasley in Los Angeles; Published in Spanish by Janisse Huambachano