Tucked behind the SMU Dr. Bob Smith Health Center is a white tent projecting a beacon of hope during the pandemic: The SMU Vaccination Clinic.

Health officials have filled it with tables, chairs, electricity, syringes, needles, freezer, refrigerators, and more. There are even cardboard cutouts of staff hanging around the tables, but they are missing one thing: the vaccine.

Every Thursday, the clinic applies for an allotment of vaccines from the state. Week after week, it doesn’t receive it.

“We are at the mercy of the state to determine if we receive an allotment,” said Dr. Krishnan.

She added that the SMU vaccination site probably hadn’t been chosen to access the vaccine because the state may not see the campus clinic as high of a priority as a hospital or a clinic that serves the city.

Regardless, they are ready for it. If SMU gets chosen to distribute the vaccine, then the shipment will arrive the following Monday after applying. Then, on Tuesday, the clinic would distribute the shots. They also don’t know which vaccine they might receive.

“We don’t know if we would get Pfizer, Moderna, or Johnson & Johnson, but we’re prepared for any of them,” Dr. Krishnan said.

If the day finally comes and vaccines are available at SMU, the health center plans to follow the state’s guidelines for distribution. Right now, Texans 50 years and older, anyone above the age of 16 with a chronic medical condition, health care workers, first responders, and school and child care providers are eligible for the vaccine.

“We’re really hoping it will be a very smooth rollout process,” Dr. Krishnan said.

An SMU official said the university has not decided who the clinic will open its doors to if they receive an allotment of vaccines.

“We hope to get as much of the SMU. community vaccinated with whatever allotment we receive,” said Dr. Krishnan. “We’re ready to go, and we’re excited about it.”

Right now, it’s a waiting game.

Here’s What Else Happened This Week:

• The CDC announced on Friday that children in elementary schools only need to stay 3 feet apart with masks on.

• President Biden said the U.S. reached its goal of administering 100 million shots to Americans in his first 100 days in office.

• The FBI started an investigation into whether New York Governor Andrew Cuomo provided false data on COVID-19 in nursing homes.