Sacred Heart University has been chosen as the only higher education institution in Connecticut to be part of the Medical Reserve Corps (MRC) effort to help disseminate the COVID-19 vaccine.
Administered through the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the MRC is a network of 900 local entities that train about 190,000 skilled volunteers to respond to public health crises.
The university is now training a cadre of health care students, faculty and staff, plus local volunteers, under the leadership of Dr. Corinne Lee, clinical assistant professor in the Davis & Henley College of Nursing, and Dr. Sofia Pendley, clinical assistant professor in SHU”™s department of public health, who co-lead the university”™s MRC unit.
“The profession of nursing is committed to meeting the needs of marginalized populations,” Lee said. “One goal of the SHU MRC unit is to have nursing students and faculty provide education on vaccine safety and reduce vaccine hesitancy in populations with high COVID-19 positivity rates.”
In addition, the organization has been focused on expanding their network of volunteers in preparation for a mass vaccination mission or a way to best disseminate the vaccine, said Pendley. Lee and Pendley are in the process of applying for grant funding that will support volunteer efforts during SHU”™s mass vaccination mission.
The next step is to begin training students, faculty and staff from SHU”™s St. Vincent”™s College, which will greatly increase the roster numbers, Lee said. Two more training sessions will take place this month to cover specifics of the COVID-19 vaccine, such as storage of the vaccine and the particular details of arranging for and completing dissemination to health care workers and first responders in the area.
In 2020, SHU refreshed its MRC roster of about 40 people, who are required to complete local training, nationally mandated FEMA preparedness and training specific to their roles in the current crisis. SHU”™s unit is part of Connecticut”™s Department of Emergency Management and Homeland Security Region 1 that covers Fairfield County.
