FAMU COVID-19 testing and vaccination site staff named 2021 Persons of the Year

Tanya Tatum, director of FAMU student health services.

Tanya Tatum, the director of student health services at FAMU, who oversees testing and vaccinations, and Cynthia M. Harris, associate dean for public health at FAMU, along with the staff of the FAMU COVID-19 testing and vaccination site have been named the Tallahassee Democrat 2021 Persons of the Year.

The FAMU testing site opened early in the pandemic, as a way to address the disparity in the number of those who were being tested in underserved communities.  
Since then it has expanded to be much more than that. 

Now it’s not just testing; FAMU offers COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters, too. The site has become a public health hub for the entire community, not just the area surrounding FAMU — especially during the latest omicron wave making its way through Leon County.

A community asset

People waiting patiently in line at FAMU to be tested.

The site has been a magnet for people of all socioeconomic and geographic demographics, bringing many to the FAMU campus who may had never visited.  The site has always been free with no physician referral required.

FAMU’s onsite lab makes it a winner, depending upon the day and the demand, results can be available within in minutes to a few hours.

The mission: Come in, swab, go on your way.

“It’s a calling,” Tatum said. “Everybody that works there really is invested in trying to do the best for the community."

Originally set up to conduct up to 350 test a day, with a 292% increase in new COVID cases in Leon County, yesterday the FAMU center conducted more than 5,000 COVID tests.

Since its inception, the FAMU testing site has conducted more than half a million exams.