NEW YORK, 24 Dec. (Reuters) – US states facing delays in coronavirus vaccination campaigns are urging medical students and nurses, and even firefighters, to help inoculate free workers from health workers fighting the pandemic in crowded hospitals.
At least seven state health departments are looking for volunteers for the campaign, some of whom are partners with universities or nursing schools with incentives such as reductions in schooling and practical training. Others teach the first responders to administer vaccinations.
The national launch of COVID-19 vaccines is the best hope to end a pandemic that has killed more than 320,000 people in the United States and paralyzed the world’s largest economy.
This month, the US regulators authorized the first two COVID-19 vaccines, one from Pfizer and pharmaceutical companies and another from Moderna.
As of Wednesday, nearly 10 million doses had been administered across the country. However, due to the lack of hospital staff and special requirements for vaccine preparation, only about 1 million had been administered.
The slow pace 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 key workers in the industry, starting in January or February.
From New York to Tennessee, states expect medical students and nurses to release medical staff focused on treating the record number of new patients with COVID-19.
“The ability to hire vaccination clinics with volunteers from our reserve workforce means that vaccination staff can continue to perform their normal tasks, which is crucial as the hospitalization rate has increased,” said one . Spokesman for Indiana University School of Medicine.
When the first vaccines arrived, Indiana health officials called the state university. More than 630 Indiana University medical students and nurses have signed up to volunteer and receive 90 minutes of hands-on and online training.
On Wednesday, last year, medical student Nicholas Clough began administering vaccines to front-line health workers.
“It seemed like a real and tangible counterattack to COVID,” said Clough, 26, who lost several family members during the pandemic.
The University of Wisconsin offers a $ 500 tuition loan to medically accredited students working in understaffed hospitals during winter breaks, including immunization.
In California, firefighters were trained to administer the vaccine, initially to their co-workers.
Depending on the licensing laws in each state, medical students and nurses can administer vaccines, often under the supervision of a licensed professional.
On December 13, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo allowed medical, nursing, pharmacy, dentistry, podiatry and midwifery students to administer flu vaccines and COVID-19 under supervision.
Reporting by Tina Bellon and Melissa Fares in New York; additional reports from Deena Beasley of Los Angeles; Edited in Spanish by Janisse Huambachano