A Look Inside the Bryce Jordan Center’s COVID-19 Vaccination Site

Volunteers work at Centre Volunteers in Medicine's COVID-19 vaccination clinic on Monday, March 15, 2021, in Penn State's Bryce Jordan Center. Photo by Ryan Parsons | Onward State

Centre Volunteers in Medicine transformed the Bryce Jordan Center’s concourse into a COVID-19 vaccination site on Monday and Tuesday as the medical clinic administered about 1,200 doses of the vaccine to pre-registered patients.

CVIM has a vaccination waitlist open to anyone eligible in phase 1A of the Pennsylvania Department of Health’s distribution plan. Registration for the waitlist is available at the CVIM website.

While CVIM utilizes the Jordan Center to administer the vaccine to individuals on the waitlist, Penn State officials say they are ready to act quickly if called on by the Pennsylvania Department of Health to distribute the vaccine.

“We’ve offered our assistance to the Pennsylvania Department of Health to help with vaccine distribution and are ready to assist if called upon,” Penn State President Eric Barron said in late February. “We’ve leveraged our considerable expertise in areas such as logistics, information technology, communications, and health care — with various Penn State units and academic colleges stepping up — to formulate a robust plan to be prepared if the state looks to the university for further support. This may provide a valuable option in meeting vaccinating our campus communities, as well as the surrounding communities if asked.”

CVIM, meanwhile, had a seamless and well-oiled operation on Monday at the Jordan Center. Volunteers helped with everything from checking in patients to injecting shots. An influx of cars lined Curtin Road outside the BJC’s ticketing office, where the clinic’s entrance was set up.

Registrants patiently waited their turn as a volunteer would come out periodically with appointment times on a whiteboard. The Pfizer vaccine must be stored at a certain temperature, so getting people in and out is an exact science.

Inside the arena, spirits were high. Beatles tunes played over the loudspeaker while those to be vaccinated signed in and got registered. “It feels like Disneyland!” one volunteer said while ushering patients in.

While some volunteers handled injections, others filled syringes with the vaccine.

Quickly after filling out paperwork, patients were directed to one of multiple stations with syringes ready to go. Next came the fun part: getting the shot.

After receiving an injection, all patients were instructed to wait for 15 minutes before leaving. EMS workers were on standby in the event of an allergic reaction or any sort of medical emergency.