Members of the University of Waterloo community from across campus supported the vaccine campaign at regional clinics like the Health Sciences Campus clinic
The Health Sciences Campus (HSC) clinic will see its last patient today. Over 75,000 COVID-19 vaccinations were administered at the clinic, which was led by the Centre for Family Medicine and hosted in the University of Waterloo School of Pharmacy.
“I’m so proud of the efforts of our team at the School of Pharmacy and of people across the university who came together in a time of need to support this initiative,” says Andrea Edginton, Director of the School of Pharmacy. “Through hosting the HSC clinic and dedicating time and energy, both to this clinic and to other vaccination efforts in the Region, we’ve made our commitment to our community clear.”
The regional HSC clinic, opened in March 2021, was a collaborative effort made possible by many partners. This clinic, along with others in the region, was supported by staff and volunteers, many of whom were members of the University of Waterloo community – faculty and staff from numerous departments, nearly 40 pharmacy students, and university alumni and retirees.
Here are some of their reflections:
Wasem Alsabbagh, Assistant Professor, School of Pharmacy, clinic staff
Wasem (left) at the Every Dose Counts clinic at Bingemans. Many who supported regional clinics also worked at this large vaccine drive.
“I appreciated every minute at the clinic, and it was a treat to work alongside students I was teaching. The whole team was in the same battlefield against the virus – we fought together and had one another’s backs. I worked with amazing physicians, nurses, nurse practitioners, administrators and volunteers who collaborated to get as many shots in arms as possible. We used to spend the last hour of the clinic trying our best to avoid wasting any drops of the vaccine.
I liked to stand in the room where we prepare the injections and look at people's faces. There is nothing like seeing the look of joy and relief in their eyes when they receive a vaccine that can help them prevent a deadly disease. It is priceless and cannot be expressed in words.”
Sally Gunz, Professor Emeritus, School of Accounting and Finance, clinic volunteer
“One particularly busy evening, I was the volunteer sending clients to vaccinators. I had two lines coming in and my head was on a swivel. It felt so good as a whole bunch of us, working together, just kept moving people through. I remember the stories from my parents, both medical workers in war time England. I had a tiny fraction of their experience and knew why they always talked about that period of their lives in such positive terms.
One of the best stretches was when the young people and then the kids started coming through. We experienced a real sense that the vaccine campaign was going to succeed. It was satisfying to be part of this community-wide effort to make us all safe.”
Sally Gunz in the vest she would wear directing patients from the parking lot to the clinic
Trevor outside the HSC clinic directing people.
“I volunteered because I believed I could play a tiny part in what feels like a very important historical moment. The School of Pharmacy’s teaching spaces were familiar to me as I’d had a small hand in the design early on (we’d never imagined the lecture halls would be repurposed in this way!). The vaccination experiences my own family members had at the HSC clinic were also very positive. At a time when I was struggling with how the pandemic had dragged on, supporting the clinic felt like personally, locally, and globally meaningful work and got me interacting with all kinds of people across the spectrum of eager, fearful, or hesitant.
My most memorable moments are of helping people with visible or invisible disabilities navigate the clinic outside or inside. I felt I could play a part in giving them the experience my family members had, which was positive, when it could have just been overwhelming or traumatic.”
Pruntha Kanagasundaram, second-year pharmacy student, clinic staff
“I feel extremely proud to have supported the HSC clinic during this challenging time.I contributed to a tremendous effort to keep members of the community safe and to address vaccine hesitancy among people from many different walks of life. Many individuals came in with uncertainty, questions and hesitancy about the vaccine, and left the clinic better informed and confident that they are doing their part to protect one another.
To have met people from such diverse backgrounds, and to be a source of information, comfort and guidance through times of uncertainty, was a tremendous privilege that I will always remember.”
Pruntha preparing injections. She performed this role and administered injections at the clinic.
Alysia Kolentsis, Associate Professor, English Language and Literature, clinic volunteer
Alysia in one of the Pharmacy lecture halls guiding client traffic.
“I volunteered at the clinic from the first week it opened. I look back at those shifts as the most gratifying moments of the past few months; everything has felt so scary and beyond our control, and the clinic was a place that felt hopeful. I witnessed the best of people – staff, volunteers, and patients – in a time when it was all too easy to slip into despair. I also felt that I was doing something, however small, to help fight COVID. It gave me a purpose and a focus that was so necessary.”
The Health Sciences Campus may be closed, but a vaccination centre is now open on campus at Health Services and vaccinations are available to all students, employees, and family members of students and employees. See the University of Waterloo coronavirus website to learn more. You can also visit the Region of Waterloo website for more on booking a vaccination at other regional clinics.