From 1 to 6 p.m. today, Oberlin College, in collaboration with Lorain County Public Health, hosted a COVID-19 booster vaccine clinic for eligible students, faculty, and staff. The appointment-only clinic was held at Hales Gymnasium and offered bivalent COVID booster vaccinations manufactured by either Pfizer or Moderna — or both, depending on vaccine availability.

Executive Director of Student Safety and Wellbeing Andrew Oni reached out to LCPH to request this clinic to provide students with the latest COVID booster vaccinations on campus and to minimize potential transportation barriers. According to Oni, LCPH and Oberlin have collaborated previously to provide vaccine clinics. LCPH has been administering approximately 50 doses a day  since Sept. 6 of this year. 

The bivalent booster works by combining a strain of the initial COVID-19 virus with a strain of the Omicron variant. This double protection is what makes the new booster more effective. Prior vaccines were monovalent, meaning that they only protected against the original strain of COVID. Omicron is now one of the most common strains of COVID in the U.S.

According to College third-year Erin Duckett, there hasn’t been much communication from the College to students to make them aware of this opportunity and other matters surrounding COVID. Though Duckett had heard about the clinic, she wasn’t sure what resources would be offered. Though she feels that the College did a good job making COVID resources available to students in past years, she has been a little frustrated this year with the lack of communication.

“I generally think Oberlin’s done a good job, at least in past years,” Duckett said. “I think this year it kind of fell off because when I thought I was sick and I got tested, it took them a whole week to get me my test results back. By the time I got my test results back saying I was negative, I wasn’t even sick anymore.”

As for students who were unable to receive the booster vaccine at today’s clinic, Kat Solove a program manager at Lorain County Public Health  states that LCPH will continue to offer it to eligible individuals.

“We do have other vaccine clinics coming up later in October that would be open to all Lorain County residents,” Solove said. 

Although the clinic was only available to those associated with Oberlin College, LCPH offers the bivalent COVID booster vaccines Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. at 9880 Murray Ridge Rd. in Elyria. Anyone over the age of 12 who received their second dose of the COVID vaccine more than two months ago is eligible to receive the booster.