The school partnered with Elements Pharmacy to offer COVID-19 vaccine booster and flu shots to students at the Upper School on Oct. 2 and Oct. 9.
Head of Communications and Strategic Initiatives Ari Engelberg ’89 said the objective of the clinics is to promote good health and safety among students.
“The main goals of the program are to increase access to vaccines in the hope that more people will get vaccinated and that doing so will drive down the overall rate of illness on campus during the school year, especially as we head into flu season,” Engelberg said. “With more COVID [cases] circulating, we encourage everyone in the community to keep up with their booster shots, subject to the advice of their primary care provider.”
Founder and CEO of Elements Pharmacy Sherri Cherman said she and her team work to bring vaccinations to sites other than her pharmacy.
“We work closely with the Los Angeles Department of Public Health, and we have been able to secure more and more vaccines as [they are] needed in the community,” Cherman said. “We also work with [them] for homebound vaccinations as well as mobile clinics, so we’re able to vaccinate people at the pharmacy [and] at different mobile clinics.”
Cherman said it is important to educate people so that they are aware of the dangers associated with COVID-19 given the amount of misinformation online.
“When people understand the potential effects of having COVID, especially [among] the elderly, the immunocompromised [and] people with other underlying conditions, [that] helps them understand the importance of the disease,” Cherman said. “There are a lot of fallacies circulating around, a lot of misinformation, [and] the more we educate people, the more they will understand that COVID is significant.”
Nola Foran ’26 said she appreciates the clinic happening at the school as it provides a convenient location for students.
“ Having vaccinations held at school is a great way to make them easily accessible, especially since school’s so busy during the week,” Foran said. “It can be difficult to catch up if you have to miss a class to get them.”
Sophia Cohen-Pelletier ’26 said she has been up-to-date with vaccinations and appreciates the school’s effort.
“I have received vaccinations because as someone with a congenital heart condition, it’s important to keep myself and others around me safe,” Cohen-Pelletier said. “ It’s good that [the school] is holding vaccinations at school because it’s important to promote good health and safety.”
