As students enter the second week of November, the UW-Eau Claire community has been coping with the virus the same as the rest of the world. 

The vaccination rate of students has slowly increased since the beginning of the semester. It now sits at over 82% for a total number of 7,790 students with an uploaded vaccination record. This information can all be found on the UW-Eau Claire COVID-19 Dashboard.

As of Nov. 8 there are five students currently isolated on campus along with seven students who are fully quarantined, according to the COVID-19 Dashboard.

57.8% of Eau Claire County has received both doses of the vaccine while 55.8% are only partially vaccinated. This is according to the Eau Claire City-County Situation Report for Nov. 5. 

That same report also highlights that rural communities as well as Black and Indigenous racial groups have a lower vaccination rate than the rest of the community. 

For those students and community members who have already received both doses of their vaccine or received the single Johnson & Johnson dose, there will soon be the option of a booster vaccine. 

Katie Wilson, a health educator on campus, spoke about the benefits of receiving a booster vaccine. 

“Research has shown that antibodies diminish over time — this is not a new concept. Booster doses like this work to keep immunity strong,” she said.

On a section of the Center for Disease Control website, users can find a location nearby that offers the booster vaccine. Wilson explained how this works. 

“You can go on the website, enter your zip code and the type of vaccine you’re looking for, and then find everywhere that you can go,” Wilson said

This vaccine locator can be found here.

Wilson also mentioned a few places where she knew the vaccine was going to be available in the community, including a testing and vaccine site at Jacobs Well, a local church in Eau Claire, as well as the Health department’s weekly clinics. 

“If people want to get the booster vaccine, they can definitely access it,” she said. 

As far as when the boosters will be available, Grace Crickette, vice chancellor of UW-Eau Claire, offered some insight. 

“The booster clinic is Nov. 10. It will start around 4:00 p.m. and go till 7:00 p.m. in the evening,” she said.

Crickette also said how quickly the registration for the booster doses filled up. 

“We filled up in record time. In a little over an hour, all the spots filled up and there were 250 of them, I believe,” Crickette said.

Regarding where the booster vaccines will be administered, Crickette said they will be offered at the marketplace in the Davies Center on campus. 

The vice chancellor also spoke on the combined effort of different groups that made this possible. 

“It’s really interesting and great that we’re able to bring these different entities together, both groups from campus and the community, to pull these clinics off,” she said. 

If you would like to receive your first or second dose or a booster dose, you can use the CDC’s vaccine locator, or visit the UW-Eau Claire COVID-19 information page.

Obadiya can be reached at [email protected]