Many St. Louis U. High teachers have been on a strenuous and stressful quest, a quest for one of the most coveted items in the country: a Covid-19 vaccination. After weeks of searching and waiting, many faculty members have received their vaccine through SLUH. 

At the beginning of December 2020, two companies released a vaccine for the novel coronavirus that causes Covid-19. However, doses were sparse, and the vaccines did not become available to teachers (who are in tier 3 of Phase 1B) in Missouri until March 15. Despite being qualified to receive the vaccine, many SLUH teachers found it difficult to book an appointment to receive the vaccine without having to travel under an hour. 

“For a couple of weeks before the offer from SLUH came up, each morning I would check to see if there were any local appointments, and each morning I was not getting any,” said Campus Minister Brian Gilmore. “I mean there were always choices, or appointments, but usually they were over 100 miles away.”

SLUH’s Director of Human Resources Beth Voegtli had been searching for an opportunity to bring a health clinic on campus to distribute vaccines to the faculty. 

“We wanted to host a clinic because of the scarcity at first of the vaccine and how so many people were wanting it but were having to drive to rural locations,” said Voegtli. “And the anxiety of getting a vaccine, I just wanted to ease people's minds and bring it to them in an easy way so that anyone that wanted it could get it.”

Three weeks ago, Express Specialty Pharmacy reached out to Voegtli to see if she was interested in hosting a vaccine clinic at SLUH. Voegtli replied with an eager yes. 

“I had been trying different routes, and out of the blue, Express Specialty Pharmacy called me and asked if we would be interested in hosting a clinic,” said Voegtli. “I said, my goodness, this is the call I've been dreaming of!”

Last Tuesday, staff from Express Specialty Pharmacy commandeered the Currigan room, transforming it from a simple eating area to an operational vaccine clinic. 

“It was great, it was nice and quick,” said math teacher Stephen Deves. “The people that were administering the vaccine were efficient and friendly and Mrs. Voegtli was just so helpful and so accommodating and checking in on people and I'm just very grateful to the school for giving us this opportunity.” 

Over 90 faculty and staff members received the Moderna vaccine, and will receive their second shot on April 15. 

Many SLUH faculty left the Currigan room feeling relieved, like a huge weight had been lifted from their shoulders, and many were happy that they could now go and see older relatives with an added layer of protection. 

“My parents are significantly older, and the whole reason that I moved back to St. Louis in the first place was to spend more time with my parents,” said English teacher Jamie Cordia. “So there was a lot of incentive for me to be vaccinated so when I was spending time with them I could feel more comfortable and confident in our time together.” 

“I'm very excited to, in the near future, spend quality time with my family members and more consistently see folks that I've been kind of staying away from,” said Deves. “It takes the stress, the anxiety, off a little bit about the possibility that I give something to an elderly relative that I absolutely do not want to give them.” 

For some faculty of SLUH, receiving the vaccine makes them feel safer within the school building. 

“I don’t wear gloves anymore, and I don't wear my shield anymore,” said theology teacher Richard Wehner. “So yes, I do feel safer, I feel a lot safer.”

When the vaccine was first released, questions floated about the safety of a vaccine that was produced and tested so rapidly. Many of the teachers that received it had done their research and felt completely safe about receiving the vaccine. 

“I was not concerned at all, because I have really been kind of following the research and the data from the beginning,” said Deves. “And I think if you do, and you understand how this was developed and you understand a lot of the science behind it, it's pretty clear that it's not risky it's not unsafe.”

While assured of the vaccines’ safety and development, Cordia still had concerns about side effects of the vaccine.

 “I actually had Covid in December and my understanding was that it can be a little bit worse if you had Covid in the past,” said Cordia. “I was a little bit more nervous because I thought now I’m gonna really get sick.”

 Much to her relief the worst side effect was arm pain where the vaccine was administered; she did not develop a cough or any fatigue.

The only concern about the vaccines dfor a couple of teachers was an ethical concern with the Johnson and Johnson vaccine (which was not administered at SLUH), which used fetal tissue from aborted children during development and production. 

“Johnson and Johnson, doing some line work with fetal tissue, that was a real concern for me,” said Wehner. “In class we go through and talk alot about that process of developing one's conscience. Well the first thing I did was I wanted to see what the bishop said and USCCB (United States Conference of Cahtolic Bishops) who said that, hey, if it's a matter of getting vaccinated and not vaccinated, you should get vaccinated.”

For Wehner he feels that it is a Catholic’s obligation to receive the vaccine to protect their neighbors and loved ones. 

“I feel as a Catholic and a Christian that it is my obligation to get vaccinated so that I am not a super spreader,” said Wehner.

After their first shot, many faculty are expressing their gratitude towards SLUH for hosting a clinic and providing an easy way to receive the vaccine. 

“I think this is a really positive step in the right direction for SLUH going forward,” said Cordia. “I think it really shows SLUH cares about their community. The willingness from the administration to make this happen and get the vaccine for faculty and staff makes me feel cared for, it makes me feel like I am a priority and they are thinking about my health and safety. As a teacher I’m really grateful for that. It's nice to know that in the future we will be better protected, not only for our students and other colleagues but also for our families.” 

With a majority of the faculty vaccinated and some students already getting vaccinated, many see this as a sign of hope,  the light at the end of a very long, very dark tunnel, that soon things will be able to return back to normal, or at least normalish. 

“I think it was just a tremendous sign of hope,” said Deves. “We've been lucky in our community to have one that seems like a pretty smooth year. Low risk, low sort of looking for low risk with, with not a ton of negative consequences in terms of peouple's health. But what we're seeing now with a lot of people getting vaccinated, is that hey there's a sign of this end in one day, hopefully soon. And that hope is, it's definitely on the horizon.”