Sullivan University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences Students Give First COVID-19 Vaccinations in Southern Indiana

Students from The Sullivan University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (SUCOPHS) were the first to administer the COVID-19 vaccination to patients in Southern Indiana.

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (PRWEB) December 23, 2020

Students from The Sullivan University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (SUCOPHS) were the first to administer the COVID-19 vaccination to patients in Southern Indiana.

As the first shots of the vaccine went into the arms of health care workers last week at Clark Memorial Health in Jeffersonville, Ind., pharmacists and pharmacy students — including SUCOPHS students Kelci Voyles, Haley Smith and Merkie Slone — helped with the vaccinations of the new drug, according to the Louisville Courier-Journal.

SUCOPHS is one of two pharmacy schools in the State of Kentucky.

"I was the first person in Indiana to be able to give the vaccine to a patient," said Voyles, who gave the first injection to a physician. "He was very excited."

"It's been a good experience," Smith said. "Everyone has been really grateful that we've been able to help."

Clark Memorial was designated by the state to offer vaccines to health workers in Clark, Jefferson and Scott counties in Indiana. The three students estimated they had helped provide around 1,500 vaccines by the end of the day Friday.

"As students, it was a great opportunity to learn," Slone said.

According to the Courier-Journal, Sullivan students were ready to vaccinate front-line health workers and others after the first vaccine shipments began arriving last week at hospitals in Kentucky and Southern Indiana, said SUCOPHS Dean and Professor Dr. Misty Stutz.

"The students are eager to help," she said. Stutz said pharmacists, with extensive training, are often considered "the most underutilized health care professional." 

Dr. Stutz told The Courier-Journal that she expects the pandemic will change that as more people come to rely on pharmacists for information about the vaccines eventually expected to become available through drugstores, as flu shots are now.

"The community pharmacy, once the vaccine gets into the general population, they'll be critical in helping administer those vaccines," Stutz said. "They're on every corner and open longer hours." 

About Sullivan University

Sullivan University is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges to award Associate, Bachelor's, Master's, and Doctoral degrees. Contact the Commission on Colleges at 1866 Southern Lane, Decatur, Georgia 30033-4097, call 404-679-4500 for questions about the accreditation of Sullivan University or visit them online at http://www.sacscoc.org.

The University offers numerous certificates, diplomas, and degrees in career-oriented programs, ranging from business, pharmacy, human resources, I.T. and cyber security, supply-chain management, culinary and baking and pastry arts, hospitality studies, conflict management, nursing, allied health sciences, HVAC-R, interior design, and legal studies. Sullivan University has campuses in Louisville and Lexington, an extension in Fort Knox on the U.S. Army Post, and Learning Centers in Louisa, Mayfield and Carlisle. Sullivan University also has many programs available partially or wholly online. For more information, visit http://www.sullivan.edu.

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