TTUHSC Vaccinates Healthcare Students

Texas Tech Health Sciences Center has 140 doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine and they are planning to distribute that to their healthcare students.

According to NewsWest 9, students studying nursing, physical therapy, medicine, and other health professions are being vaccinated no matter what year they are in.

Once they finish vaccinating students, which should be Tuesday, they are planning to move to the next phase of 65 and older or those 16 and older with chronic medical conditions later in the week.

"Today is just another step in the direction of breaking this pandemic," said Dr. Timothy Benton, Chairman of Family and Community Medicine Department at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center.

Last week Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center vaccinated their staff.

With the 140 doses they have left now they move to healthcare students.

"Being interrupted earlier this year in our education, it's been pretty key to get ourselves back into the classroom or the hospital setting," said Nnana Amakiri, a fourth-year medical student at Texas Tech Health Sciences Center.

They are expecting to use up 50-100 doses to vaccinate healthcare students.

"We may not get through all the students with this current supply, but I anticipate that the state will be sending more soon. The more people that can develop immunity, then the less this virus will spread through our community and then not have a host so it moves on out," Benton said.

Last Tuesday, UTPB and Odessa College nursing students and nursing faculty were offered the vaccine at Medical Center Hospital.