KNOX COUNTY, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — There is an effort underway to make vaccines easily accessible to eligible high school students in Knox County.
As a way to make sure high school students are afforded the opportunity to be vaccinated, Good Samaritan Hospital in Knox County is heading into high schools to vaccinate students.
Dr. Scott Stine, Chief Medical Officer at Good Samaritan, says the relationship with faculty and staff in Knox County schools paved the way for this effort to vaccinate students.
Lincoln High School was the first school in Knox County to have students vaccinated with 20% of students eligible signed up.
“Really, what the schools are trying to do is coordinate with each individual student’s schedule to keep them away from missing any particular academic activity or other things that they’re participating in during the day,” said Stine.
On April 13, South Knox High School will be giving students the opportunity to be vaccinated as well. South Knox Schools Superintendent Tim Grove says though receiving the vaccine is optional, it was important to make it easier for students who want to be vaccinated.
“When school started in August, I think we were all in the same boat. How long until we get to do this? Will we make it to Labor Day,” said Grove. “I think with the opportunity to have so many vaccinated, it’ll be back to normal as much as we can.”
Stine says they are hopeful they can achieve herd immunity.
“The more individuals we have vaccinated, the closer we get to herd immunity and it’s not just the vaccinated individuals,” said Stine. “When we look at herd immunity locally, the numbers that we’re looking at are not just those individuals who have been vaccinated but also the individuals who have had the illness.”
