'Bittersweet': FAMU COVID-19 testing site shuts down services after a three-year operation

Tarah Jean, Tallahassee Democrat
·3 min read
The free COVID-19 testing site at Bragg Memorial Stadium on the FAMU campus Tuesday, May 12, 2020, has a steady stream of patients, but plenty of space to keep them all socially distant.
The free COVID-19 testing site at Bragg Memorial Stadium on the FAMU campus Tuesday, May 12, 2020, has a steady stream of patients, but plenty of space to keep them all socially distant.

Florida A&M University’s COVID-19 testing site officially closed Friday — just three days after what marked its third anniversary of serving several communities.

The decision to call it a wrap was made earlier this week, according to FAMU Director of Student Health Services Tanya Tatum, which puts an end to what has turned into the longest continually operated public testing site in the Big Bend area.

“We're not seeing as many people, and it's quite an expense to keep everything up,” Tatum told the Tallahassee Democrat Friday afternoon. “We're at a different place in the pandemic, so, we made the decision that this would be the right time to go ahead and terminate the services.”

Tanya Tatum, director of Student Health Services, Florida A&M University
Tanya Tatum, director of Student Health Services, Florida A&M University

The site came about because of the pandemic’s rapid spread that began three years ago. As a result, FAMU collaborated with partners including the Bond Community Health Center, the Leon County Health Department and the Florida Division of Emergency Management to start the operation at Bragg Memorial Stadium.

The university’s goal was to make the testing site accessible to Tallahassee’s south side residents as well as individuals in other underserved areas.

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People wait in line to get tested for COVID-19 at the FAMU testing site Monday, Dec. 27, 2021.
People wait in line to get tested for COVID-19 at the FAMU testing site Monday, Dec. 27, 2021.

Throughout the course of the site’s existence, people came from as far as Georgia and Alabama to take advantage of the rapid and PCR tests and vaccination services, which were all available to them for free.

The site had three medical staff and four support staff members who helped run the testing operation, according to Tatum.

After its beginning stage of being located at the stadium and operating from Monday through Saturday, the testing site moved to Ardelia Court before settling at its final location on Wahnish Way, which is north of FAMU’s Developmental Research School.

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People wait in line in there vehicles backed up in both directions on Wanish Way before getting tested for COVID-19 at the FAMU testing site Monday, Jan. 3, 2022.
People wait in line in there vehicles backed up in both directions on Wanish Way before getting tested for COVID-19 at the FAMU testing site Monday, Jan. 3, 2022.

As of March 31, the site’s staff had administered 694,000 tests and averaged between 40 to 100 tests a day, Tatum said. This is compared to 632,323 total tests that were done as of April 2022 when there was an average of between 200 and 400 tests a day.

About 28,000 vaccinations have been administered, and lately, a low average of one to four vaccines have been given out per day.

Tatum believes that the testing site added some value to the community and hopes that it helped save lives.

Tanya Tatum, the director of student health services at FAMU who oversees testing and vaccinations, Monday, Dec. 27, 2021.
Tanya Tatum, the director of student health services at FAMU who oversees testing and vaccinations, Monday, Dec. 27, 2021.

“It's kind of bittersweet, but we’re very glad and proud that we've been able to provide this service to the community,” Tatum said. “It was so needed at a time when we were facing the pandemic and when people just didn't have a lot of answers, a lot of information and a lot of options.”

Prior to the FAMU site’s closure, a local CVS that was located on South Monroe Street and provided free COVID-19 testing to individuals has recently closed.

Related news: 'I go there almost every day.' After 25 years, a CVS in Tallahassee will close

With the FAMU site no longer operating, other free COVID-19 testing options in Tallahassee that individuals can turn to, which require appointments, include remaining CVS locations — such as the ones on Apalachee Parkway, North Monroe Street and West Tennessee Street — and Walgreens stores throughout the community.

Ordering a free at-home COVID-19 test is also an option but is only available through May 11, where every U.S. household is eligible to order four free at-home tests, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Contact Tarah Jean at tjean@tallahassee.com or follow her on twitter @tarahjean_.

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This article originally appeared on Tallahassee Democrat: FAMU COVID-19 testing site shuts down services after three years