Arnold campus vaccination clinic to close

The+vaccination+clinic+on+East+Campus+will+close+on+Wednesday.+

Sam Gauntt

The vaccination clinic on East Campus will close on Wednesday.

Sam Gauntt, Editor-in-Chief

The COVID-19 vaccination clinic on the Arnold campus will shut down on Wednesday. 

The clinic, run by Anne Arundel County’s Department of Health, opened on Jan. 11, 2021, to administer free vaccines to those in the college community and Arnold area, according to Program Manager for Public Health Emerging Pathogens Jan Donnelly. 

“I mean, our clinic volumes are definitely down,” Donnelly said. “I think the transition, just in general, is going to be into pharmacies and into the public. … As we transition, we’ll continue to do pop-up community clinics. We’re really focused on … reaching vulnerable populations. So I think we’ll continue to look at using the senior centers, using the school system.”

The clinic, located in Annex A on East Campus, used to serve up to 1,000 people a day. 

“It’s the one community site that we have [where] we have vaccinated the most people,” Donnelly said. “It has been the most popular vaccine site.”

However, Donnelly added, the clinic now receives less traffic. 

“We used to see 1,000 people a day, and [now] we’re probably seeing less than 10. So I mean that’s that dramatic.”

Some students said they used the clinic to get their COVID-19 vaccinations.

“I went in there for my first two vaccinations,” second-year early childhood education student Maya Cruz said. “I think it was great. I guess I kind of get why they’re getting rid of it, though. I mean, most people who were going to get their vaccinations already got them. There’s less need for it now. Plus, there’s so many other places that are doing it too. So if no one’s really using it, it makes sense to get rid of it. It is a nice resource to have though for people who do need it.”

However, some students said they didn’t use the clinic. 

“If I knew about it, sure, I would have gotten my vaccines there,” second-year transfer studies student Aryan Shabanpour said.