Some US States Seek Medical Students to Give COVID-19 Vaccines
2020-12-29
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1Healthcare workers across the United States are busy fighting COVID-19 in overcrowded hospitals.
2At the same time, there is a great need for medical workers to give millions of newly arrived vaccine doses.
3To take some of the pressure off the healthcare workers, some U.S. states are asking medical and nursing students, in some cases even firefighters, to help give the shots.
4So far, at least seven state health departments are looking for volunteers to help out at vaccination centers.
5Departments are cooperating with local universities or nursing schools.
6Some are offering incentives, such as lowering students' costs to study and giving hands-on training to first responders.
7COVID-19 has left more than 333,000 Americans dead and caused great economic harm.
8But the new vaccines are the best hope many have to see things turn around.
9This month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first two COVID-19 vaccines, one from drug-makers Pfizer Inc and BioNTech, the other from Moderna.
10As of December 23, almost 10 million doses had been shipped across the country.
11But only about 1 million were used because of limited support at hospitals and the special requirements for preparing the shots.
12The slow start will make it difficult for the federal government to reach its goal of vaccinating nearly 20 million people before the end of 2020.
13The current vaccination programs are centering mainly on frontline healthcare workers.
14But beginning in January or February, the vaccination drive is expected to expand to tens of millions of essential industry workers.
15From New York to Tennessee, states are hoping that support from medical and nursing students will let medical workers turn all their efforts to the record numbers of new COVID-19 patients.
16Being able to use volunteers means the healthcare workers "can continue to perform their normal duties, which is crucial as our hospitalization rate has increased," a spokeswoman for Indiana University's School of Medicine told Reuters news agency.
17As the first vaccines arrived, Indiana health officials called on the state university because its campuses are spread over a large area.
18More than 630 of Indiana University's medical and nursing students have signed up as volunteers and received 90 minutes of online and hands-on training.
19Fourth-year medical student Nicholas Clough recently began giving COVID-19 vaccines to healthcare workers.
20He has lost several family members during the pandemic.
21"It finally felt like it was a real, tangible strike back against COVID," Clough told Reuters.
22In California, first responders have been trained to give the vaccine, first to their co-workers.
23"They have already received online training and will have another one-hour live training session," said Peter Sanders, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department.
24The department was expecting doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
25Some states are not actively looking for volunteers, until there are more vaccines ready for the public.
26So far, only Massachusetts and New York have changed their laws for who can give shots.
27On December 13, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo acted to permit students from medically related fields to give the flu and COVID-19 shots, with supervision.
28"We encourage all medical and nursing students to register now so they will be ready when their assistance is needed," a health department spokeswoman said.
29I'm Armen Kassabian.
1Healthcare workers across the United States are busy fighting COVID-19 in overcrowded hospitals. At the same time, there is a great need for medical workers to give millions of newly arrived vaccine doses. 2To take some of the pressure off the healthcare workers, some U.S. states are asking medical and nursing students, in some cases even firefighters, to help give the shots. 3So far, at least seven state health departments are looking for volunteers to help out at vaccination centers. Departments are cooperating with local universities or nursing schools. Some are offering incentives, such as lowering students' costs to study and giving hands-on training to first responders. 4COVID-19 has left more than 333,000 Americans dead and caused great economic harm. But the new vaccines are the best hope many have to see things turn around. 5This month, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the first two COVID-19 vaccines, one from drug-makers Pfizer Inc and BioNTech, the other from Moderna. 6As of December 23, almost 10 million doses had been shipped across the country. But only about 1 million were used because of limited support at hospitals and the special requirements for preparing the shots. The slow start will make it difficult for the federal government to reach its goal of vaccinating nearly 20 million people before the end of 2020. 7The current vaccination programs are centering mainly on frontline healthcare workers. But beginning in January or February, the vaccination drive is expected to expand to tens of millions of essential industry workers. 8From New York to Tennessee, states are hoping that support from medical and nursing students will let medical workers turn all their efforts to the record numbers of new COVID-19 patients. 9Being able to use volunteers means the healthcare workers "can continue to perform their normal duties, which is crucial as our hospitalization rate has increased," a spokeswoman for Indiana University's School of Medicine told Reuters news agency. 10As the first vaccines arrived, Indiana health officials called on the state university because its campuses are spread over a large area. More than 630 of Indiana University's medical and nursing students have signed up as volunteers and received 90 minutes of online and hands-on training. 11Fourth-year medical student Nicholas Clough recently began giving COVID-19 vaccines to healthcare workers. He has lost several family members during the pandemic. "It finally felt like it was a real, tangible strike back against COVID," Clough told Reuters. 12In California, first responders have been trained to give the vaccine, first to their co-workers. 13"They have already received online training and will have another one-hour live training session," said Peter Sanders, a spokesman for the Los Angeles Fire Department. The department was expecting doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. 14Some states are not actively looking for volunteers, until there are more vaccines ready for the public. 15So far, only Massachusetts and New York have changed their laws for who can give shots. 16On December 13, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo acted to permit students from medically related fields to give the flu and COVID-19 shots, with supervision. 17"We encourage all medical and nursing students to register now so they will be ready when their assistance is needed," a health department spokeswoman said. 18I'm Armen Kassabian. 19Reuters reporters Tina Bellon and Melissa Fares reported this story. Armen Kassabian adapted it for VOA Learning English. Bryan Lynn was the editor. 20We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section and visit our Facebook page. 21_________________________________________________________ 22Words in This Story 23incentive - n. something that encourages a person to do something or to work harder 24first responder - n. someone trained to respond to an emergency. 25dose - n. the amount of a medicine or drug that is taken at one time 26crucial - adj. extremely important 27essential - adj. extremely important and necessary 28tangible - adj. easily seen or recognized 29frontline - n. an area involving action and conflict 30supervision - n. the action or process of watching and directing what someone does or how something is done 31encourage -v. to make (someone) more determined, hopeful, or confident