Elms College, Big Y Supermarkets Partner to Provide COVID-19 Vaccinations

CHICOPEE — Elms College and Big Y Supermarkets have formed a partnership to provide COVID-19 vaccinations to eligible residents in Western Mass.

In coordination with the Elms College School of Nursing, Big Y has established two COVID-19 vaccination clinics. One clinic site is in the former Staples store located in the Big Y Plaza at 443 North Main St. in East Longmeadow. The second is located in the Big Y Plaza at 237 Mohawk Trail in Greenfield, in a space formerly occupied by a mattress store.

“This collaboration with Big Y is a wonderful opportunity for the students and faculty of our School of Nursing to contribute to this important community service,” said Kathleen Scoble, dean of the School of Nursing. “Our students are receiving a unique and impactful learning experience that will better prepare them as nurses. We have enjoyed working with the Big Y leadership, who clearly value the communities they serve by bringing the much-needed COVID-19 vaccination to area residents.”

Added Steve Nordstrom, pharmacy director at Big Y Supermarkets, “serving our communities is important to Big Y, and the partnership with the Elms College School of Nursing has bolstered our capabilities to deliver this essential healthcare service. By leveraging our strengths, we are able to meet the critical need to vaccinate as many members of our communities as possible. Working with the Elms College School of Nursing has been a pleasure and has resulted in clinics that offer a safe, comfortable, and expeditious experience.”

More than 200 Elms College School of Nursing students — sophomores, juniors and seniors — are participating in this joint effort with Big Y to administer and schedule COVID-19 vaccinations.

“Some patients have driven two hours to these clinics, and others are weeping because they are so grateful to receive the vaccine,” said clinic coordinator Deana Nunes, an Elms College assistant clinical Nursing professor.

While some nursing students are administering the vaccines, others help monitor patients after the shots are administered. Elms nursing students also help patients schedule appointments for their second vaccine shot.

For more information on the clinics, to see if you qualify, and to schedule an appointment for a COVID-19 vaccination, visit www.bigy.com/pharmacy/covid19-vaccine-faq.