"Our initial weekly allocation from the Department of Health and Human Services is 2,000 doses of Johnson & Johnson, which is the one dose vaccine," said Ken Pittman, executive director of UNC Campus Health. "We opened up our appointments on Friday and within two hours, all 2,000 appointment spots had been taken."
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It's a big deal for Carolina, after clusters of COVID emerged earlier when some students socialized during the pandemic.
Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said, "availability of vaccine is really important. So our goal is to get everybody vaccinated before they leave this semester."
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He and UNC's provost Bob Blouin thanked all the medical workers involved in the vaccination clinic before the first students arrived.
"Days like today have to be successful, and these days would not be successful if it were not for you," Blouin said.
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Pharmacists prepared the doses of J&J vaccine inside the kitchen of a Wendy's restaurant in the student center, minutes before students like freshman Alex Jackson rolled up their sleeves. He was one of the first to get a shot Wednesday morning, and has a certificate from the providers as a reminder for others to get vaccinated.
"I had no idea I was gonna be the first in line! I thought that was a cool, added bonus to it," Jackson said.
We'll let you know if they reach their goal of vaccinating everyone on campus by semester's end.