(March 11, 2021) – Grand Canyon University expects to administer its 50,000th COVID-19 vaccination Thursday at its Point of Dispensing (POD) site for the Maricopa County Department of Public Health.
Since opening the volunteer-driven POD on Jan. 26, GCU is averaging more than 1,300 vaccines per day and has regularly exceeded 1,700 per day during the past two weeks. After administering a new daily high of 1,968 vaccines on Wednesday, GCU expects to surpass 50,000 Thursday afternoon.
“This milestone reflects our continued efforts to impact those in our surrounding community and be part of the COVID-19 solution in Arizona,” GCU President Brian Mueller said. “We could not have done this without the incredible faculty, staff and student volunteers who answered the call to serve these past seven weeks and care for others in our neighborhood. We remain committed to operating our site as long as the county needs us.”
GCU’s POD is unique in that (1) the University is operating it free of charge to Maricopa County, (2) it is run almost completely by GCU volunteers who assist clinical volunteers from MCDPH and (3) it targets the most vulnerable populations in its very diverse surrounding community.
The GCU POD is the only vaccination site in the county to offer walk-thru service to those who don’t have a vehicle and need public transportation or a shuttle in order to get a vaccine. The University also has reached out to several of its community partners to assist them in making appointments for their constituents who qualify. A recent example is GCU’s partnership with the Phoenix office of the Consulate General of Mexico. GCU volunteers were onsite to register 71 people at the Consulate on Saturday and help them get an appointment to receive the vaccine.
“A lot of people in our neighborhood don’t have a computer or, if they do, need help navigating the registration website or just understanding the health benefits of the vaccine,” Mueller said. “We want to be proactive in reaching out to these populations and making it as easy as we can.”
The GCU POD is open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday to those who have an appointment and qualify under MCDPH guidelines. For information on how to schedule a vaccine appointment, go to https://azhealth.gov/patientportalguide.
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About Grand Canyon University: Grand Canyon University was founded in 1949 and is Arizona’s premier private Christian university. GCU is regionally accredited by the Higher Learning Commission and offers more than 270 academic programs, emphases and certificates for both traditional undergraduate students and working professionals. The University’s curriculum emphasizes interaction with classmates, both in-person and online, and individual attention from instructors while fusing academic rigor with Christian values to help students find their purpose and become skilled, caring professionals. For more information, visit gcu.edu.
