On Monday, March 29, Governor John Bel Edwards expanded the eligibility of the vaccine to every individual age 16 and over for the Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine and everyone age 18 and over for the Johnson & Johnson and Moderna vaccines. Throughout the months of February and March, expanded eligibility for the vaccines has slowly progressed to include more groups.

“We are pleased that the state has broadened eligibility criteria to include all those over 16 or 18, depending on the vaccine used,” Patrick Delafontaine, executive dean for the Tulane University School of Medicine, said. “This is an important step forward in getting to widespread vaccination of our communities, which is critical to achieve herd immunity and to successfully address the pandemic.” 

On March 22, 2021, student workers became eligible for the vaccination and were encouraged to go to multiple different vaccination distribution centers throughout New Orleans. Since then, students have been making appointments to get vaccinated.

Junior Alba Cordover was recently vaccinated at the Tulane University distribution center. 

“It was good, it was really quick,” Cordover said. “I just got there and had to fill out two forms, and then I sat down and got my vaccine and then after, they had me sit in a waiting room for 15 minutes to observe whether I would have any reaction to the vaccine. I sat in a room with 20 other people who had just been vaccinated and all in all it was pretty quick and efficient.”

Cordover and junior Lauren Bashein speculated about whether more students at Tulane will receive the vaccination with the new expanded eligibility for the COVID-19 vaccine.

“I hope that everyone within the Tulane community will get it including faculty, staff and especially all students,” Bashein said.

“I think that since it was so quick and easy to sign up — I got my appointment within a week of signing up through Tulane — I think the majority of students will be able to get vaccinated by the end of this semester,” Cordover said. 

Junior Ryan Windus said he will not be receiving the vaccination at present.

“From the limited knowledge I have on the subject, the COVID-19 vaccine is a new experimental vaccine that differs from previous types,” Windus said. “The COVID-19 shot is an mRNA vaccine that teaches yourself how to fight the disease opposed to giving your body a weakened version of the virus. Furthermore the current outbreak of coronavirus rushed healthcare companies to expedite the approval process. These two factors and the experimental and rushed nature of the vaccine made me slightly skeptical of getting the shot early. I personally like to make sure that the side effects, both short term and long term, are not more harmful to my health then COVID-19 will be.”

Tulane students are able to get vaccinated at Tulane University Medical Center, Ernest N. Morial Convention Center, and participating pharmacies like those at Walgreens, CVS and Walmart.