USC is taking steps to ensure its students who need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 can easily gain access to an approved vaccine.

The University has enlisted the help of local health provider Sunny Street to establish a vaccination clinic on its Sunshine Coast campus at Sippy Downs.

Although this clinic will be open to all USC students, priority bookings will be offered to those who need to be vaccinated in order to attend upcoming work placements.

USC Vice-Chancellor and President Professor Helen Bartlett said the Sunny Street clinic would be open from 9am to 5pm every Tuesday and Wednesday.

“This on-campus clinic will make it convenient for our students, particularly those enrolled in health-related fields such as Nursing Science, to get vaccinated,” she said.

“USC supports the right of its students to make informed choices regarding COVID-19 vaccination.

“However, there are mandatory requirements set out by some facilities hosting students for placement, or by the Queensland or Federal governments, and so it’s important to us that our students are able to access the vaccine as quickly and easily as possible.”

Sunny Street co-founder and CEO Sonia Martin said partnering with USC to provide students with easy access to vaccinations was a good fit with Sunny Street’s established approach to boosting community health.

“Sunny Street was founded as a mobile outreach service designed to provide equitable access to healthcare, break down barriers and provide services into the community where they’re most needed,” she said.

“This partnership is another opportunity for Sunny Street to increase vaccination rates and support the community by ensuring students can go on placements when they need to and play their part in the local healthcare workforce.”

Ms Martin said every vaccination dose administered by Sunny Street under the Federal Government’s COVID-19 vaccination rollout supported the organisation’s work to provide outreach healthcare to people experiencing homelessness and vulnerability.