By NANCY WEST, InDepthNH.org

DURHAM – University of New Hampshire staffers who work directly with students benefited from COVID-19 vaccinations that were about to expire on Wednesday, according to Paul Dean, chief of the university’s police department.

Dean said he was notified Tuesday night that 250 shots were set to expire Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. and he said they were able to save 177 of those doses with willing workers.

Dean said the shots were given to hall directors, dining staff and housekeepers along with faculty and staffers who are people of color “knowing that people of color have more difficulties with the virus.”

He said he got the call from the Strafford County public health network asking if the university could round up enough people to avoid wasting the doses.

“We’re not going to turn that away. There was no secret about it,” Dean said. “We’re very appreciative.”

The shots were administered by the university’s health and wellness crew and student nurses, but they weren’t able to save all 250.

“They did 177 shots in 90 minutes,” Dean said before the doses expired.

The university is currently in remote learning status because of a spike in the number of active COVID-19 cases at 239.

Dean said he doesn’t believe the increase in the virus on campus was caused by any single event, but is something many colleges and universities such as Plymouth State and Franklin Pierce, are also experiencing.