Students will help with administering vaccines when they become available
Frederick, MD (KB) A public health initiative was constructed at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to have health and medical students finish their training, while also assisting with virus response.
Dr. Robert Cain, President and CEO of the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine, said that these students can aid in a number of response efforts.
“There is a need to make sure we do contact tracing, wellness checks on the elderly, mental health screenings as we look at some of the challenges that have arisen because of the pandemic,” explained Dr. Cain.
The doctor knows that one of the biggest challenges hospitals will face will be administering a COVID-19 vaccine once it becomes available.
“We’re talking about having to undertake, in a relatively short period of time, one of the largest mass vaccination programs ever undertaken by the US, or, in the world,” said Dr. Cain.
Students learn to give vaccines early on in their training programs, so this is something hospitals will utilize their extra hands for.
The doctor is hopeful that a vaccine will be ready for public distribution by the second quarter of 2021. He is confident that the student reserve of over 600,000 aspiring health professionals will help relieve a tired medical workforce.