I remember how excited I was to receive the COVID-19 vaccine back in March of 2021. After a few months of waiting for eligibility, it felt like it couldn't come soon enough. I checked every local pharmacy to see who had openings and the closest ended up being 45 minutes away. But I didn’t mind at all, and honestly I would have driven even further. Getting the vaccine was worth it to me because it offered hope for an end to the pandemic and at least some peace of mind that I would avoid the severe health effects of COVID. 

Flash forward to August 2021 and I’m in NHC serving as the Community Health and Prevention Coordinator at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh. A lot of my service work revolves around connecting schools, early childhood centers, and out-of-school time sites to resources to create healthier environments for the children they serve. I do this through health education, site assessment and goal setting, and connecting sites to local or national resources. Essentially, I work to bring the resources of the hospital to the community to improve the health of children. One prominent way I have been doing this is through school based COVID-19 vaccine clinics.

For these clinics, I travel to elementary, middle, and high schools all across Pittsburgh to provide vaccines to students, teachers, and parents. While registering patients at clinics, I address vaccine questions and concerns. One common sentiment that has come out of my conversations has been gratitude from patients who thanked us for coming directly to their schools to ease accessibility barriers. I learned that many patients lack transportation, time off from work, and a computer to schedule an appointment. Our team has taken many steps to help make the vaccine easily available. 

To start, holding vaccination clinics at schools has led to convenient vaccination of many teachers and staff who have gotten their first, second, and booster doses. Additionally, schools are generally located in close proximity to families homes. However, even in cases where families live further, school districts have coordinated bus routes to commute people to a centralized location within the district. This has eased transportation barriers immensely. Furthermore we work to schedule clinics outside normal school and work hours so that parents are more able to be present and bring their child to be vaccinated. To address technological barriers, we have a phone line available to register in addition to our web link. We also look to decrease patient vaccine hesitancy by scheduling physicians to come speak at schools prior to the clinic so that fears and misconceptions can be addressed. This has been especially impactful among high school students who may be exposed to misinformation on social media apps. 

When I think back to my own vaccine experience, I now notice how fortunate I am to be able to easily locate and travel to a vaccination site. The 45 minute drive didn’t phase me in the slightest, however, many do not have that luxury. I also realize that even if we were to disregard barriers to access, many people are hesitant to receive the vaccine. Sometimes bringing the vaccine directly into their school, where they can see their peers and teachers getting vaccinated, is an important factor in easing that hesitation. There is always more that can be done to increase awareness, accessibility, and comfort surrounding the vaccine. However, I have seen that bringing medical care, particularly preventive services such as vaccines, to the people (rather than relying on people to find their way to medical services) is a good place to start. 

This post was written by NHC Pittsburgh member Abbey Trippel. Abbey serves at the UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh as a  Community Health and Prevention Coordinator.