NFPPC P4 Learners Assist With the Shots at the Shop White House Initiative

The Biden Administration invited student pharmacists at the Northeast  Florida Pharmacy Practice Center (NFPPC) to participate in its most recent COVID-19, health initiative, “Shots at the Shop.”

Shots at the Shop is a program to engage 1,000 Black-owned barbershops and hair salons nationwide to act as health advocates. Participants assist their clients in making informed COVID-related decisions, dispelling misinformation, and hosting COVID-19 vaccination clinics in their shops.

In Jacksonville, community members received the Pfizer vaccine at The Man Cave Barbershop on the northside. Three CoPPS, IPH P4 learners, Iyosayi Urghide, Tamia Cuttray, and Deveni Gibson,  participated in administering COVID vaccines, with the oversite of their preceptor and CoPPS, IPH Associate Professor, Samantha Thompson, PharmD.

“It is essential to do all we can to help with this initiative,” said Dr. Thompson. “Our community has been impacted the most by COVID-19.  Our community must see strength in access to preventative care from its community members. It is so inspiring to see the Biden Administration taking charge to vaccinate minorities and do so at barbershops which are a cultural epicenter for our community regarding education, self-esteem, and counseling. The White House specifically requested an HBCU medical or pharmacy program to administer the vaccine as well as counsel patients on side effects, myths, and additional preventative care”.

“It was truly an honor to be a part of the Biden administration’s Shots at the Shop Initiative, said P4 learner Iyosayi Urhoghide. “I believe that helping to administer vaccines was another chance to give back to the community. COVID-19 has taken so many lives already and the vaccine, as well as this event, gives us a chance to help save lives.”

The P4 learners at NPPC are currently completing their clinical rotations at the Florida Department of Health-Duval.