x
Breaking News
More () »

ESU student nurses administer COVID-19 vaccines

Many nursing students have been on the front line of COVID-19 vaccination clinics, including some at East Stroudsburg University.

EAST STROUDSBURG, Pa. — David Akinwande is a junior at East Stroudsburg University. He's also on the football team.

When he's not in his helmet and pads, he's in scrubs.

David is a nursing student and has spent the last month on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"Before the semester started, in January, our department chair sent out an email saying there's an opportunity for nursing students to give vaccinations, so I signed up because I was interested as a way to get experience and also give back to the community," said David Akinwande, ESU Nursing Student.

David is participating in a clinic at Lehigh Valley Hospital-Pocono as part of his academic program.

He had to go through training and observations to learn the ropes.

So far, he's vaccinated about 100 people with a COVID-19 shot.

A task he never thought would be on the syllabus when he started nursing school.

"Who would have thought that this would impact the entire world? No one had any idea. I am just grateful to be able to be in the position to help in any way I can in regards to giving vaccines to people in the community. When I see them coming in, we are there for five minutes each time, but within that five minutes, I learn so much about that person," said Akinwande.

Elizabeth Wise is the president of Lehigh Valley Hospital Pocono.

She says as vaccine eligibility opens up, more trained hands will be needed to give vaccines.

"We have hired hundreds of vaccinators, community vaccinators. We have access to nursing students that also can give the vaccine. We will continue to add hours, we have added hours we were originally doing six hours a day, we are now, down, or up, to eight hours a day, we can expand the days of the week and continue to do mass vaccination events," said Elizabeth Wise, LVH-Pocono President.

David hopes to help out at mass vaccination clinics put on by Lehigh Valley Health Network in the coming months.

Before You Leave, Check This Out