Dominga Santos, 80, drove up to Southside High School at 3:00 a.m. for the University of the Incarnate Word mass vaccination clinic. She had to wait five hours, but to Mrs. Santos receiving the COVID-19 vaccine was worth the wait. “I don’t want to get the COVID,” Mrs. Santos said.
She’s exactly who the UIW Schools of Nursing, Pharmacy, and Medicine were targeting on Saturday, April 10 where Mrs. Santos was the first of 900 people to receive the COVID vaccination that day. The one-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine was provided by San Antonio Metro Health.
“We know we had to be here. No one was coming south of Loop 410,” said UIW Nursing professor Linda Hook, Ph.D., R.N., MPH.
“In January, we went knocking on doors left and right trying to get the vaccine for our community. But help came from the University of the Incarnate Word,” said Southside ISD Superintendent of Schools Mr. Rolando Ramirez.
From early morning set up to sundown, 120 UIW nursing, pharmacy, and medical students participated in the seamlessly run event. It also included 20 Southside High School National Honor Society students and ROTC cadets who participated in the vaccination clinic.
“Dr. Hook and the help she provided to the District gave our students real-world experience in witnessing health professionals on a life-saving mission,” the Superintendent said. He added that as a result of the clinic, some Southside High School students may now enter the medical profession.
Additionally, 10 organizations, including the American Heart Association and the Bexar County Clerk’s office, participated in a mini-health fair at the mass vaccination clinic, which was, in part, sponsored by WellMed.
