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The Ãå±±ÂÖ¼é of Texas at El Paso received approval in early January from Texas Department of State Health Services to provide COVID-19 vaccinations. The UTEP COVID-19 Vaccine Clinic was launched on January 22-23, is house at the Interdisciplinary Research Building (IDRB). The vaccination effort includes representation from UTEP administration and staff, the School of Pharmacy, the College of Health Sciences (e.g., Clinical Laboratory Sciences and Public Health Sciences), and the School of Nursing.

The School of Pharmacy plays an important role in this critical vaccine effort, which includes:

• The Dean of the School of Pharmacy (Dr. José O. Rivera) serves as Chief Medical Officer for the clinic.  In this role, he is responsible for overseeing clinic operations as well as vaccine procurement and storage. The Dean works closely with university administration and staff to secure the resources needed to support the vaccine clinic (e.g. information technology, human resources, administrative support for scheduling, data processing, etc.).
  
  
• Clinical pharmacy faculty members who are immunization certified are responsible for establishing and maintaining the vaccine administration clinic workflow, including orientation/training of student interns, precepting pharmacy student interns during vaccine administration, triaging patient-related needs that emerge during the vaccine administration (e.g. adverse events, contraindications to vaccination), and collaborating with other health care providers on site to facilitate the vaccination process (e.g., emergency medical technician, nursing faculty/students). 
  
  
• Pharmacy student interns play a role in staffing the vaccine preparation, administration and monitoring stations.  Prior to participation in the clinic, students receive appropriate training and orientation to prepare them to carry out their assigned roles.  In the vaccine preparation station, pharmacy students participate in vaccine preparation including the use of aseptic technique to prepare and draw up vaccine doses according to guidance from various vaccine manufacturers. Students in the vaccine administration station play a crucial role in administering vaccines to eligible recipients while providing appropriate clinical recommendations under the guidance of preceptor faculty.  Students in the monitoring station ensure that each patient is observed for the appropriate time required for post-vaccination monitoring. In this station, they also help to distribute important education to promote safe health practices (e.g. promotion of V-Safe application for monitoring, use of masks/social distancing post vaccination, etc.).
  
  
• School of Pharmacy staff and faculty that are not immunization-certified play a role in providing administrative support to the vaccine clinic.  These faculty support administrative tasks such as the check-in processes at the vaccination stations which include ensuring appropriate data entry at the point of care and provision of the vaccine immunization cards with important information about vaccine follow-up appointments.

• Resuming Campus Operations page.
• UTEP Vaccination Program page.
• Dr. José Rivera's "UTEP COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic" presentation.