COVID-19 vaccinations at St. Catherine University

On Tuesday, Feb. 16, St. Catherine University (St. Kate’s) started the on-campus COVID-19 vaccination program. St. Kate’s distributed the Moderna vaccine during these efforts to help vaccinate faculty, staff, students, and a few members in the outlying community. The vaccine has been proven to be safe and effective, which makes it a good way to help stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

“Health and Wellness Clinic staff, with the help of many amazing volunteers, were able to administer 500 initial doses of the Moderna vaccine,” Dr. Amy Kelly, director of the Health and Wellness center at St. Kate’s and co-chair of the Safely Returning to Campus Committee, said. “We will begin providing second doses to these individuals later in March.”

“The majority of this vaccine allotment was provided to faculty, staff, and students in accordance with the state’s vaccine prioritization guidance.” said Dr. Kelly. The vaccine distribution at St. Kate’s is following the Minnesota Department of Public Health (MDH) guidelines, which is currently prioritizing those who are in phase 1a. Phase 1a consists of people working in fields such as healthcare, COVID response fields including COVID testing and vaccination, educators, and people over the age of 65. “We then provided a very limited number of doses to members of the wider community over the age of 65.” 

Minnesota Department of Public Health’s general guidelines for the COVID-19 vaccination distribution in the first phases.

When it comes to the distribution of the vaccines to other students, staff, and faculty on campus, Dr. Kelly said “We are working closely with the Minnesota Department of Public Health (MDH) and local public health agencies to determine when additional vaccines may be available, and continue to monitor data and trends to determine how we can continue to expand opportunities for our campus community to connect with each other in-person.”

“We have administered all of the vaccines we were allotted at this time. We will receive an additional supply in order to administer the second dose for those included in the first round, but have not received word on when we might receive anything beyond that.” Dr. Kelly explained when asked about what the future process of vaccines on campus would look like. “We will continue to keep the community updated on any future on-campus vaccination availability. The State of Minnesota recently launched a tool designed to help individuals learn when, where, and how to get vaccinated.”

Minnesota Department of Public Health’s estimations for who will be eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine shortly. This timeline helps to give people a sense of when they might be receiving their dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Like St. Kate’s, the state of Minnesota is making progress concerning the vaccine effort. The MDH COVID Response website has counted over 1 million Minnesotans with the first vaccine dose, and a little over half a million with a completed vaccine series. The St. Kate’s vaccination effort is a small step toward getting every Minnesotan vaccinated, and helping to stop the spread of COVID-19.

If you have received a COVID-19 vaccination, it is still important to take precautions, such as wearing a mask, social distancing, and limiting contact with others outside of your household. If you receive a vaccine off campus, the Health and Wellness center is asking to be alerted of that decision to help for future planning when it comes to vaccine distribution in the St. Kate’s community.
For more information on the vaccine at St. Kate’s, please visit the COVID Vaccination page at St. Kate’s. To see eligibility and be connected to the vaccine process through the state of Minnesota, please visit the Vaccine Connector website.