Students who still need to get their COVID shots following LSU’s vaccine mandate announcement are in luck. The university is providing several convenient on-campus locations for students to stop by for vaccinations and testing.
“Students can get the vaccine at any facility, on or off campus, and just need to let us know afterwards that they have received it,” said Director of Media Relations Ernie Ballard.
There are three locations on campus where students can get vaccinated for free: the LSU Student Union Theater, Student Health Center and 4-H Mini Barn.
Both the LSU Student Union Theater and 4-H Mini Barn accept walk-ups and are open Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The vaccination site at the Student Health Center is open Monday through Thursday from 8:30-11:00 a.m. and 1-3:30 p.m. and 8:30-11:30 a.m. on Friday’s.
As an incentive to get as many members of the LSU community vaccinated as possible, the state of Louisiana is offering a $100 Visa gift card to the first 75,000 college students who are willing to roll up their sleeves and take the shot.
Students seeking further information regarding LSU’s vaccination plan can check the Fall COVID-19 Roadmap.
LSU virologist Joel Baines said that although some people have questioned the efficacy of the vaccine due to breakout cases, it’s a normal result of vaccines and the COVID-19 Pfizer shot is still “safe and effective.”
“There’s almost no vaccine that prevents infection in everyone all the time,” Baines said. “These are very good vaccines in that their big advantage is basically that they move the bar. They move the bar from being very sick and potentially going to the hospital to a little bit sick and not going to the hospital. And that’s really their benefit to mankind and managing the outbreak.”
While different variants of the coronavirus continue to emerge, health officials are encouraging all eligible individuals to receive a booster COVID shot after eight to 12 months of being fully vaccinated.
“There’s a lot of controversy about that,” Baines said. “Immunity does wane. Right now they’re thinking about eight months after the initial dose. Immunity wanes so people are a little more likely to have a breakthrough infection if they’re exposed to the natural infection more than eight months after the second vaccination.”
Booster shots would further protect LSU students, faculty and staff from contracting the virus and remaining safe if they happen to do so. However, with places around the globe still lacking access to the first round of COVID vaccines, some think those extra shots would be better off elsewhere.
“There are some global concerns that generally younger people get less severe infection,” Baines said. “So wouldn’t it be better to have all those shots given to the people in third world countries that don’t have good access to the vaccine? It’s controversial.”
Despite the continuing spread of COVID, Baines said he thinks common use of booster shots would be superfluous.
“I would say that it’s probably not necessary, at least now,” he said. “If this is a fluid thing, we’ll have to see. The Delta variant is much more transmissible. The Delta variant, so far, is still being controlled by the vaccine.”
