Vaccine opportunities to continue

TAMUK to give vaccines during summer and fall semesters

The Kleberg County Mobile Vaccine Unit has administered 300 COVID-19 vaccines at Texas A&M University-Kingsville (TAMUK) since April 14.

The Vaccine Unit has been visiting campus throughout the summer, with the most recent clinic hosted Saturday, June 26, and is present during new student orientations. The vaccines given by the campus are not only being distributed this summer, TAMUK has plans to continue giving the vaccinations well into the fall semester.

“We understand the critical role vaccination will play in continuing to keep our campus safe,” Director of Marketing and Communications Adriana Garza said. “The COVID-19 Response Team will inform the campus community of vaccine clinic dates as the fall semester nears.”

With the distribution of vaccines on campus, TAMUK’s COVID-19 positivity rate is 4.7 percent with only 190 positive on-campus cases from Fall 2020 to Spring 2021, according TAMUK’s COVID-19 Dashboard.

In order to qualify for a vaccine on campus, students do not need to currently be enrolled in classes and must be at least 18 years old. Individuals interested in receiving vaccination must not have COVID-19 or have been exposed to the virus in the past 14 days.

“I got the vaccine to protect not only myself, but my family and friends as well,” Marketing major Danyelle Green said. “My overall experience getting the vaccine was great, my arm was just sore from the second dose.”

Active cases in May dropped tremendously, with only 2 positive cases in the month compared to April which had 64 total active cases.

“I respect everyone’s wish on not wanting to get the vaccine, but I will say it’s going to be more of a challenge of getting everything back to normal if you don’t get the vaccine,” Green said.

As cases trend down and the state lifts mandates, TAMUK no longer requires masks to be worn on campus or social distancing to be enforced.

For more information regarding campus vaccinations check your student email as updates and news on upcoming clinics will be sent there.