Vanderbilt employees with children between 4 and 14 are being invited to participate in a free four-hour Family Mass Vaccination exercise on Saturday, Sept. 29, at Vanderbilt Health One Hundred Oaks.
Emails from Traci Nordberg, Chief Human Resources Officer, were sent last week to employees with dependent children between these ages who live at home. Instructions were given in the email about how to register. The first 250 families (about 1,000 people) to register will be able to participate in the event, held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at One Hundred Oaks. Only those registered ahead of time can participate.
About 20-25 vaccination stations will run simultaneously. Supervised nursing and pharmacy students from area universities with an affiliation agreement with Vanderbilt will administer the immunizations.
“Vanderbilt is a worksite point of distribution partner with the Metro Public Health Department, and this encompasses a vaccination pool of 60,000 people which includes Vanderbilt faculty, staff, their family members and Vanderbilt students,” said Pam Hoffner, MSN, RN, Director of the VUMC Department of Emergency Preparedness.
“We had a very successful flu campaign last year with the Flulapalooza event for our staff, faculty and students,” Hoffner said. “During that event we administered a total of 14,082 flu vaccines and achieved a Guinness World Record for most vaccinations given during an eight-hour period. While that event was very successful, its focus was on vaccinating faculty, staff and students.
“This exercise allows us to test the family member vaccination component and determine how it would be scaled to vaccinate 60,000 people during a public health emergency,” she said, adding that employees with children younger than 4 and older than 14 should connect with their provider regarding flu vaccinations for those children.
Organizers of the event are reminding participants to wear short sleeves or sleeveless shirts if possible. If you’re wearing a jacket, make sure it’s one that can be taken off for the inoculation.
All Vanderbilt faculty and staff will also have the opportunity to receive the flu vaccine at Flulapalooza II, Oct. 17, from 6 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Oct. 18, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., held under a tent between Light Hall and the VA Campus. A valid Vanderbilt ID is needed to receive the vaccine. More information will be provided closer to the event.