Albany, N.Y. — New York plans to begin sending Covid-19 vaccines directly to colleges in the state in an effort to get more students vaccinated, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said today.
State University of New York schools will get 21,000 doses and private colleges will get another 14,000. Cuomo’s office did not say which private colleges are getting doses.
The goal is get students vaccinated before they leave campus and return home for the summer, Cuomo said during an appearance at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood on Long Island. Covid infection rates have been creeping higher among the young, he added.
The coronavirus is still a danger to young people. It can make them seriously ill and even kill them, Cuomo said.
Young people could also pass the illness to parents and grandparents, he said. They need to get the shots.
“You have a civic duty to make sure you are not a transmitter of Covid,” he said. “Even if you believe you’re a superhero and you have super immunity, you have a civic duty to do it.”
SUNY announced earlier this month that it would start vaccinating students using the Johnson & Johnson shot.
Syracuse University Chancellor Kent Syverud told CNN over the weekend that the “vast majority” of faculty and staff members have already been vaccinated.
Over 4,000 SU students have already received shots as well, he added. The school has over 22,000 students total.
SU is making Covid vaccines mandatory for all students and staff.
“It’s the safest thing to do for our whole campus community, and you know, high school seniors coming back in the fall, I think what they most want is the full campus experience with competitions and sports, and all the being together with their lots of their friends safely and vaccinations is one of the key ways to make sure we’re going to deliver that here at Syracuse,” Syverud said, according to CNN.
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