KANSAS CITY, MO. — Students from four local colleges were welcomed to Kansas City University for a vaccine clinic this week.
"Serving our mission of improving the well-being of the communities we serve," said Dr. Bruce Williams of KCU.
The school welcomed higher-ed students from across the metro, with their own vaccine clinic, in a collegiate year unlike any other.
"We have students here that haven't even really seen our campus, we've had to give our first-year students that are three-quarters of the way through their first year, a tour of the campus," Williams said.
The clinic through Samuel Rogers, administering Moderna vaccines, offers protection after this school year ends, and for the upcoming Fall term.
"I think it's important for us because we're college students. We don't always live in Missouri we don't live in the same state, so we're always traveling, whether it's back home, or like to see grandparents who also live in the same state. So because of that I think helps us be safe and protect others," said Ariana Cajina, a Rockhurst University sophomore.
Those administering inoculations are first and second-year medical students, who are volunteers.
"It's rewarding to be able to help people get that and feel that sense of relief after they receive a vaccination," said Erik Benotti, a KCU second-year medical student.
The pandemic will usher in a new generation of medical practitioners, who are studying, and living through, the historic moment.
"Fragility of life, you know, they've seen very healthy people get very sick, and I think, you know, they're much more aware of what can happen," Williams said.
Everyone at the clinic, those giving and receiving the vaccine, has all been touched personally by the past 13 months.
"My uncle in Chicago actually got COVID and unfortunately he passed away. It's real, you know, and so I think it's just a realization that this affects everyone," Cajina said.
They say the vaccine brings hope for a brighter future, and an opportunity to share that hope with their peers.
"I wanted to be able to look back during this time, and think that I had done something to make a difference," Benotti said.
Students from KCU, Rockhurst, Avila and the KC Art Institute participated this week, and new vaccinators were all trained and certified before the clinic, administering shots under faculty supervision.
