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2 people prepping syringes
From left, UH Hilo students Jeff Regalario and Dillon Solliday prepare and reconstitute Pfizer vaccine at large-scale vaccination event inside Edith Kanakaʻole Stadium in Hilo.

Once COVID-19 vaccines became available in late 2020, University of Hawaiʻi at Hilo pharmacy college faculty and staff worked with the Hawaiʻi Department of Health and UH officials to coordinate student and faculty volunteers at various vaccination points of dispensing (POD) on Oʻahu, Maui and Hawaiʻi Island.

Fourty-eight Daniel K. Inouye College of Pharmacy (DKICP) students are assisting at vaccination sites in Hilo, including pharmacies at KTA Superstores.

person prepping syringes
Leila Chee at the Edith Kanakaʻole Stadium vaccination event where 2,000 people were vaccinated.
people prepping shots
From left, pharmacy students Kauʻi Lonzaga and Eric Dau prepare syringes.

Student pharmacists also helped out at several large-scale vaccination PODs, where 2,000 doses were administered per event. On Oʻahu, the UH Hilo students also assist at vaccination events held at Leeward Community College and UH Mānoa.

Students and faculty members provide valuable on-site services including, vaccine syringe preparation, performing vaccinations, patient registration, managing vaccine counts and thawing, and post-vaccination monitoring.

“Our communities owe all planners and workers a great debt of gratitude for their tireless efforts to get us back with our families and friends, to move us to a safe and better new normal, and to stoke our economy,” Carolyn Ma, dean of the pharmacy college, wrote in the current issue of the college’s newsletter (PDF). “I commend our wonderful faculty and staff for the examples they have set for our students, but I also want to recognize our students for their selfless contributions to helping preserve the health of all residents in our state.”

When COVID-19 testing clinics became more accessible last summer and fall, pharmacy students from DKICP worked at on-campus testing events. Student pharmacists assisted with collecting screening paperwork, checking vital signs, managing traffic flow and sanitizing resources between each person.

For more go to UH Hilo Stories.

—By Susan Enright, a public information specialist for the Office of the Chancellor and editor of UH Hilo Stories

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