Students Can Now Get Vaccinated
By Lomie Blum, News Editor for The Hudsonian
New York State (NYS) residents 16 and up are now eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine, with plans for HVCC to open in fall vaccines have become crucial for the school to open and maintain safety precautions.
Students of a younger set including many college students are usually asymptomatic, less likely to experience severe COVID symptoms and die. However, in a New York Times article, it was revealed that college students were spreading the disease at rapid rates killing those more vulnerable.
As of December 11th, 2020, there have been at least 56 Coronavirus cases on HVCC’s campus.
On April 6th, 2021, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that all New Yorkers 16 and up are now eligible for the vaccine.
HVCC is not mandating students to get the vaccine but the school and President Ramsammy are encouraging students to get vaccinated.
“We strongly urge all Hudson Valley students to get vaccinated to protect themselves and keep our campus community safe. At this point, all New York State residents aged 16 and older are eligible, so that’s very encouraging as we look ahead to the summer and fall,” President Ramsammy stated.
President Ramsammy also pointed out HVCC’s collaboration with the state in distributing the vaccine.
“As you know, Hudson Valley has served as Rensselaer County’s vaccine point of distribution for several months and thousands of individuals have been vaccinated on campus. Many of our students and employees have received their vaccines here and weekly clinics are ongoing,” President Ramsammy said.
“In fact, just last Thursday, Chancellor Malatras announced that vaccination centers on SUNY campuses have collectively administered over one million vaccine doses. We are doing our part,” President Ramsammy added.
The NYS department of health requires immunization records and numerous vaccinations for students to be admitted into the school. This is not the case with the COVID vaccine.
Student Senate member Savannah Shulkin stated regarding the COVID vaccine “the Senate has been overall quite against Vaccination mandates, feeling that students should have a choice of getting it or not while still being able to receive an education regardless.”
On April 12th Governor Cuomo announced New York State will be distributing 35,000 vaccines specifically for college students.
“The State of New York is announcing that we will be giving direct allocations to colleges and universities so they can vaccinate their students in their facilities and help us stamp out the COVID beast. This is the moment of opportunity and we have COVID on the run, but we have to stay New York tough and New York smart,” Cuomo said.
“We’re now focusing on students and we want to get students vaccinated before the end of the school year,” Cuomo added.
SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras praised Cuomo’s decision and hopes students can return to campus as soon as possible.
“Vaccinating SUNY students before they leave for summer break is the key to restoring normalcy on our campuses when students return in the fall. Thanks to Governor Cuomo and New York State for securing vaccines specifically for our students—a move that will get us to the finish line faster and more efficiently,” Malatras stated.
“Our students have been a shining example throughout the crisis, with weekly mandatory testing, mask policies and helping on the frontlines—and the result is a low positivity rate on our campuses of 0.32% over the past week. Our students have been crystal clear on this issue: they want to get vaccinated,” Malatras added.
President Ramsammy remains hopeful yet cautious for students to return to campus.
“As we approach the start of a new academic year, we will need to remain vigilant about adhering to health and safety procedures and the risks of COVID-19 while continuing to prioritize our students. However, with more and more of our students being tested and vaccinated each day, I am hopeful that the summer and fall semesters will see strong interest and enrollment,” Ramsammy stated.
One can make a vaccination appointment today online via: https://covid19vaccine.health.ny.gov/ or by calling New York State COVID-19 Vaccination Hotline at 1-833-697-4829.