Within two weeks of FDA approval of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for 5-11 year olds, Greenhills held its fifth vaccine clinic. 

The school worked in tandem with a Greenhills family-owned pharmacy to facilitate this vaccine clinic.

Several administration members, including Director of Communications Michael Shaw, Administrative Coordinator for the Head’s Office Stephanie Bentley, Advancement and Communications Associate Rachel Bielicki and Associate Head of School Quincy McLaughlin, took the lead on Greenhills’ end of the vaccine clinic.

“Greenhills’ role in the vaccine clinic was in all the organization as well as opening up our space, ” said Bentley. “The pharmacy was gracious enough to help us obtain the vaccines as well as handle the administration of the vaccines.” 

More than just Greenhills students were vaccinated at the clinic. 

“Obviously the first priority is the Greenhills community, but after we were able to make sure Greenhills students and family members were taken care of, we sent out a larger wave of invitations to the general community,” said Bentley. 

“In total, around 250 people were vaccinated at the clinic,” said Bentley.

Fully vaccinated sixth graders will have large implications for the Greenhills community. “It will be mandatory that sixth graders get the COVID  vaccine just as it was mandatory for everyone else that was already eligible,” said Bentley.

It wasn’t mandatory for the sixth graders to get vaccinated at the Greenhills clinic, but they do need to be fully vaccinated. 

“Once most of the sixth graders have had the chance to get both doses of the vaccine, it will mean that everyone in the building will be vaccinated,” said Dean of Students Tom Ward. “[This] is a really big step for our community.”.

Right now, sixth graders eat lunch separately from the rest of the middle schoolers due to their vaccination status. However, the lunch schedule is bound to change.

“Once ample time has been given for the sixth graders to be fully vaccinated, they will be eating lunch at the same time as the rest of the middle school, rather than before,” said McLaughlin.

This is one of the many changes Greenhills community members can expect to see for the time being.

“Before the Delta variant, all we needed as a school was a certain percentage of our students and faculty to be vaccinated for masks and other restrictions to go away,” said McLaughlin. 

Because of the delta variant, as well as rising case numbers in Washtenaw county, vaccination will not be enough to get rid of many restrictions.

“It will be a waiting game and we just need to be patient with restrictions and not rush into anything that may be unsafe,” said Ward. 

The vaccine clinic not only affected the Greenhills community, it also made vaccines more accessible to the community; Greenhills has taken an active role in stopping the spread of COVID-19 and prioritizing safety for all families. 

“I am absolutely thrilled that my son and daughter were able to get vaccinated,” said Lauryn Rochlen, parent of Isaac Rochlen ‘28. “It brings me a lot of peace of mind and we can finally travel as a family.”

Like their parents, students were also pleased to get vaccinated.

“I’m really happy that I’m finally vaccinated, and can’t wait to not sit alone at lunch anymore,” said Sirina Bery ‘28.