Images courtesy of Hampton University
Hampton University recently debuted its new COVID-19 Testing and Vaccination Station at the historic Emancipation Oak on campus.
In an effort to serve communities who are disproportionately effected by the pandemic, this state-of-the-art RV is equipped with pharmacy-grade freezers capable of sustaining the COVID-19 vaccine.
“Hampton University has the financing, capacity, and knowledge through our subject matter experts in our Schools of Nursing, Pharmacy, Science, Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications, and the Hampton University Proton Therapy Institute to help fight this terrible virus,” said Dr. William R. Harvey, Hampton University president, in a statement. “Hampton University is uniquely qualified and prepared to deliver this much-needed life-saving service to our underserved communities.”
Dr. Harvey and other local leaders received the COVID-19 vaccine in December of 2020 to publicly support taking the vaccine and encourage the African American community to take it as well. The African American community has had a long-standing fear and hesitancy as it relates to taking vaccines since the Tuskegee Experiment in 1932.
The mobile vaccination clinic can hold 500 shots will be used throughout the Coastal Virginia region. The RV was a half-million-dollar project, funded by donations to Hampton University and built by STX, an Ashland-based company that builds and refurbishes laboratories.
