HIGHLAND HEIGHTS, Ky. — After receiving a sizable batch of COVID-19 vaccines to distribute to its population, Northern Kentucky University (NKU) held a vaccine clinic Thursday at the BB&T Arena. Hundreds of students, faculty and staff received their first shot of the Pfizer vaccine.

Kentucky recently expanded its vaccine eligibility window to include all residents aged 16 and up, a few weeks before President Joe Biden said the same window applies to all states in the U.S.

(Spectrum News 1 / Sam Knef)

Jennifer Hunter, a faculty member with NKU's school of nursing, said several departments across the campus worked together to organize and run the clinic. She said the effort was for the good of the community.

Some nursing students were calling the shots Thursday as they helped administer vaccinations, which Hunter said provided great experience to nursing students in all stages of the program.

"That’s an important skill, you know, these pandemics come around once every 100 years, so they might not ever have to use this skill again, but actually it’s a great experience to see how we have people working together," Hunter said.

Maycee Searp, a nursing student at NKU, said her opportunity to administer COVID-19 vaccinations to her fellow students was extremely important.

"It’s kind of like a once in a lifetime opportunity, hopefully, anyways. Because of the shutdown back in March of last year, it kind of hindered our learning in the sense that we couldn’t really go in the hospitals and get this hands on action that we’re getting right now," Searp said. "And so I feel like it’s definitely helped me as a student and as a future nurse to be able to get that experience that I was kind of lacking, and at the same time make a difference in my community.”

The process was pretty easy to get the hang of, Searp said. She's always had the desire to help people.

NKU will host another clinic on May 13 to administer second doses of the Pfizer vaccine.