An Asian American woman fills a syringe from a vial

CWRU partners with Cleveland Metropolitan School District to provide COVID-19 vaccines to local families

Students, staff and families from two nearby schools will enter the holidays with additional COVID-19 protection through a collaboration between Case Western Reserve and the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. 

Under the direction of medical and nursing faculty, more than 50 students from Case Western Reserve’s two schools administered vaccines Friday, Saturday and Tuesday (Nov. 19, 20 and 23). Staff and physician assistant students helped register families and explain the vaccination process. 

212 people—including children as young as 5—received vaccines during clinics at the Wade Park and Willson K-8 schools, each roughly two miles from campus. 

“Community engagement is a core part of our mission as a university,” university President Eric W. Kaler said. “We are honored by this opportunity to provide vaccines to Cleveland children and their parents.”

As with all university vaccination clinics, staff from the Office of Resiliency and University Health and Counseling Services coordinated the overall process. 

“We want to make access to vaccination as convenient as possible for CMSD families who choose to take advantage of it,” CMSD Chief Executive Officer Eric Gordon said. “We are grateful for this assistance from Case Western Reserve University.”

Second doses will be administered at the two schools next month.

From the earliest weeks of the pandemic, Case Western Reserve has contributed to city and county efforts to contain COVID-19’s spread. When the university had the opportunity to administer vaccines on its own campus, Cleveland residents were the first to receive the shots.