Covid center | Photo by Qusai Takuri | The Wright State Guardian
The Wright State University COVID-19 testing and vaccination center will close this week as demand for services declines. The future of the space in room 023 in the Student Union is currently unknown.
Closure
On April 1, 2022, the university updated its masking policy to state that masks are no longer required on campus and suspended its COVID-19 surveillance testing program.
Due to this and a decline in demand, the COVID testing and vaccination center will close and no longer offer on-site testing or vaccinations beginning on Tuesday, April 19 according to Nick Lair, assistant vice president of lab services for Premier Health.
WSU partnered with Premier Health to conduct the COVID rapid tests and vaccinations at the center.
Demand
According to Dean of Students Chris Taylor, COVID vaccinations at the center stopped weeks ago and the contact with Premier Health for this project was set to expire during finals week. This was due to a lack of demand.
“There was a three-week period where no one was getting vaccinated,” Taylor said.
University data shows that 676 tests were administered at the center in the fall semester. In the spring semester, this dropped to 293 tests.
Future plans
The center will not be staffed during the summer semester and Taylor is unsure if the center will be used again in the fall.
According to Taylor, the university does not yet have a plan for the space for the fall 2022 semester and beyond.
The closure of the center means the end of the contract with Premier Health, which began last fall. However, according to Lair, Premier still partners with the university on medical endeavors and with Wright State Physicians.
Once the center closes on Tuesday, it will be used as storage for the COVID testing kits the university distributes via the COVID testing kit vending machine in the student union. Campus community members in need of a test may get one via the machine at no cost.
