Quaker Valley School District hosts community covid vaccine clinic

Opal Cress sat beside her father, Ben, and younger brother, Gabriel, inside Edgeworth Elementary School on Tuesday afternoon.

It was a familiar location for the Quaker Valley School District second grader, but an unfamiliar setting.

About a dozen or more UPMC staffers and nurses operated a registration desk and several stations throughout the gymnasium in order to administer covid vaccinations.

The clinic was the result of a partnership with the district and the health care organization.

After several moments to calm her nerves and some words of encouragement from the family, Opal received her first dose of the Pfizer vaccine.

“It didn’t hurt to me,” said Opal, 7. “It didn’t hurt at all.”

Gabriel also received his first dose. He said he felt good afterward.

The pair received gift bags from UPMC filled with snacks, a coloring book, a toy and a marker among other items.

“This is the first one they did down here at the school, so I figured it would be a good time to do it now that kids are allowed to get vaccinated,” Ben Cress said. “With them moving around, they probably see more people a day than the rest of the family.”

Cress, who also is vaccinated, said he believes the vaccine is another inoculation people should receive, like those for measles or polio.

“For the most part, vaccines across the board are all good,” Cress said. “Whether or not you have your hold-ups about this one is your own personal business. I think given the severity of the situation, we’ve got to try something to see what we can do to get through (the pandemic). I work as a chef, so covid continuing to exist negatively impacts my entire life.”

More than 220 people ages 5 and older registered for the clinic, which offered doses of the Pfizer, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccine as well as boosters.

Participants were given different colored wristbands upon entry identifying which dose they would receive.

Mike Lewis, district director of student services, said the clinic was a great opportunity to help get the vaccine to Quaker Valley families who wanted it.

“As a small district we oftentimes find ourselves being the hub of the community,” Lewis said. “Any time we can partner with the community and provide something that is so important in these times (and) convenient too, to offer this in their neighborhood is just taking care of the community.

“This UPMC staff has been awesome, absolutely awesome. They brought a small army of people to help us get this done and they’ve been fantastic. It’s really gone well.”

This is not the first clinic Quaker Valley offered during the pandemic.

The district hosted a clinic last May. It offered the Pfizer vaccine to people ages 16 and older. District spokeswoman Angela Conigliaro said that clinic was through Giant Eagle, and 15 students received vaccinations.

Miller believes having all three vaccines and opening up the clinic to a broader age range helped increase the number of participants.

“Any of the shots through any of the providers really gives people the flexibility to choose,” he said. “It’s kind of a one-size-fits-all no matter where you are in the (vaccine) chain.”

Rosemarie Trunzo, 66, of Peters Township is a registered nurse with UPMC. She came out of retirement last March so she could help with covid clinics.

Trunzo said she wanted to “try to be part of the solution of knocking back this covid-19 disease.”

“So many people were getting killed in ICUs,” she said. “It was destroying families and people. Vaccines were definitely the way to go, aside from what we were doing with the masks and social distancing. This was really, really going to help.”

Trunzo and her station at Edgeworth helped dozens of people. She said she has been involved in hundreds of clinics since last year.

“I do them probably three to five days a week,” she said. “They are all so very satisfying. You just see so many people coming in, whether they are getting their first shot, following up with their second or getting the booster.

“You know they are trying to help those of us in health care to control this.”

Trunzo encouraged those considering getting the vaccine or are taking their chances without the shot to “look beyond themselves.”

“If they get covid, maybe they will not become too ill, but they may spread it to someone who will,” Trunzo said. “By them getting the vaccine, they will help cut the transmission of the disease. It’s helping more than just them. They need to think beyond their personal situation.”

Most of those who received the vaccine stayed about 15 minutes afterward in case there were immediate reactions.

Maddie Gatehouse, 12, of Leet, said she felt fine besides some arm soreness after her first Pfizer booster.

“I felt more safe getting it,” said the seventh-grader. “I think if other people get vaccinated the spread won’t be as intense. It’s a good thing for our school to do this because I think it’s helping out the students of Quaker Valley.”

Her mother, Jenna Gatehouse, said the family is fully vaccinated.

“It’s important so that we don’t get sick and we also protect those who can’t get vaccinated for any reason,” she said. “My son (Andrew) just turned 5, so he was able to get it. For a long time, we were all vaccinated and he wasn’t. He recently got it. He’ll be here next year.”

Gatehouse said she also had a sore arm after receiving the shot and no other side effects.

“It’s just a good thing to do for public health,” Gatehouse said.

Another clinic is planned for Feb. 8 at Edgeworth Elementary School.