West Virginia University at Parkersburg President among first group to get the COVID-19 Vaccine

In the last days of 2020, Dr. Chris Gilmer, West Virginia University at Parkersburg President released a statement that he and his husband, David Creel, have received the initial dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. In the statement, Dr. Gilmer addressed the university and the greater Parkersburg community in the hopes of encouraging others to sign up to receive the vaccine as well. In his statement, Dr. GIlmer noted that the university will not require any faculty or staff members to participate. Dr. Gilmer also said in the statement that he is grateful to Governor Jim Justice for prioritizing educators in his vaccine rollout plan. Since the first vaccination day, WVUP has hosted three additional vaccine clinics.

Dr. Gilmer, who joined WVUP as president in 2018, along with his husband David, were two of the first ten people to receive the initial dose of the vaccine for COVID-19 in December. At the time, around 80 employees had volunteered to receive it. That list of individuals was then prioritized based on a variety of risk factors including age, and likelihood to have to work face-to-face in the near future. In the statement released December 30, Dr. Gilmer said, "David and I were vaccinated for COVID-19 today. We felt it to be our responsibility to serve as role models for the West Virginia University at Parkersburg community and the community-at-large because of the positions of leadership we are honored to hold in the public trust."

Since then, the university has held another three vaccine clinics at the Center for Early Learning on the WVUP campus. The most recent of which was able to administer 500 doses to people who had all made appointments prior to the event. The vaccines were administered by the Mid-Ohio Valley Health Department. In his statement, Dr. Gilmer acknowledged that there is still much skepticism surrounding the vaccine and wanted to be one of the first to receive it. As he put it, "David and I do not desire or intend to pressure anyone, but we want to demonstrate that in this moment we place our firm trust in science and affirm with our own status as the first volunteers that we believe the vaccine to be both safe and necessary."