Penn will administer Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines on Wednesday and Thursday

Penn’s on-campus vaccination clinic will administer the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday and Thursday this week.

Appointments to receive the Pfizer vaccine all day on Wednesday and until 2 p.m. on Thursday are available through the University's scheduling platform. The clinic will also be accepting walk-ins in an effort to make vaccinations as accessible as possible, Chief Wellness Officer Benoit Dubé said.

Penn community members who are vaccinated on Wednesday and Thursday will receive their second dose of the vaccine on May 19 or May 20, three weeks from their first dose. Penn has been administering the Moderna vaccine — which requires four weeks between doses — nearly every day since its Gimbel Gymnasium vaccine site opened on April 14.

Penn previously administered up to 500 doses of the Pfizer vaccine for one day only on April 21. Many students, particularly those living in on-campus housing, said they were especially happy that Penn was able to provide the Pfizer vaccine, as they will receive their second dose on May 12, one day before the move-out deadline.

Director of Campus Health Ashlee Halbritter explained that the Philadelphia Department of Public Health had a surplus of doses of the Pfizer vaccine that would expire on Thursday afternoon and therefore wanted to offer them to the University, so that as many Penn community members as possible could be vaccinated.

Last week, Penn announced that all students will be required to receive the COVID-19 vaccine before returning to campus for the fall semester, which the University is planning to hold in person. Halbritter encouraged students to get vaccinated on campus, as long as they will be in Philadelphia to receive the second dose, in preparation for the fall semester.

All members of the Penn community are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine at Gimbel Gymnasium as long as they can show a green PennOpen Pass and a Penn ID.