Notre Dame hosting mass COVID vaccination clinic

SOUTH BEND, Ind.--- The University of Notre Dame is hosting a mass COVID vaccination clinic on Friday and Saturday from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. at the Compton Family Ice Center. Vaccines are by appointment only and 5760 doses of the single shot Johnson and Johnson vaccine are being administered. 

"About 6 or 8 weeks ago when Dr. Box and Dr. Weaver reached out to the university and asked 'Would you be interested in a mass vaccination effort in north central Indiana?' it didn’t take us more than a minute for us to say 'Absolutely yes!'" said Mike Seamon, Vice President of Campus Safety and Operations.

The St. Joseph County and Indiana State Health Departments and the Indiana National Guard are all assisting in the efforts. 

"These vaccinations are going at a good clip," said South Bend Mayor James Mueller. "These mass vaccination sites are helping us to stay ahead of the next wave and win the fight against COVID-19."

Health department officials say they are leaning on Notre Dame's gameday traffic experience to help things run smoothly. 

"I think one of the things that the university felt that we could do was support the state and the county with gameday operations, think of that so when we under normal times have 80,000 people in the stadium," said Seamon. "We're used to parking and traffic control and security."

Officials say talks are already underway for another clinic to be held in the near future.

"We're looking at we'll have a supply of additional doses for a mass vaccination clinic here in the county," said St. Joseph County Deputy Health Officer Dr. Mark Fox. "We're still working on all the details for that because a lot of our resources are currently committed at St. Hedwig, so it's going to be dependent on volunteers, but we expect over 3000 additional doses of the Moderna vaccine available here for the county."