As it has in years past, the Maine AHEC Network Program Office coordinated two seasonal flu vaccine clinics in October 2021, one on each of UNE’s Biddeford & Portland campuses. While facilitated and overseen by AHEC Program staff, the engines of these clinics are the student volunteers, who skillfully fulfill their roles and gain valuable experience contributing to an important public health intervention. Across these two clinics, 523 season flu vaccines were distributed – marking the most successful seasonal flu vaccine campaign to date!
During the Biddeford campus clinic, 15 UNE College of Osteopathic Medicine CUP AHEC Scholars served as vaccinators, while 20 UNE undergraduates filled crucial non-clinical roles. Demand was so great that the clinic ran out of vaccine, prompting it to close an hour earlier than planned! On the Portland campus, School of Nursing and Population Health nursing students administered vaccinations, while students from the School of Pharmacy and Physician Assistant program, in addition to staff from the Center for Excellence in Public Health, provided non-clinical support. As Maine AHEC Network Director Jen Gunderman commented, “These clinics are powered by UNE students. Without them, people could not have received their vaccine. I am deeply grateful for their assistance and professionalism.”
This collaborative effort could not have happened without the partnership of UNE’s Student Health Services; College of Osteopathic Medicine, and Schools of Pharmacy and Nursing and Population Health faculty; and UNE Communications, Facilities & Human Resources. It is a privilege to provide this service to the UNE community, and Maine AHEC is grateful for the overwhelming response of those who sought their vaccines in an effort to keep themselves & their community healthy this fall.