COVID-19 vaccines being allocated for SUNY students

ALBANY, N.Y. (NEWS 10)-- As of today, those who are 16 years-old and older are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

On Tuesday, Russell Sage and UAlbany college students rolled up their sleeves to receive their first dose of the Pfizer vaccine, Victoria McLean was one of them.

"It’s been a year of my life, and I’m in college and I wanted to be safe, so I’ve been super careful. But I’m really excited for life to get a little back to normal," stated Victoria McLean, a junior at Russell Sage.

We are also learning about SUNY’s bigger plans to vaccinate residential students before the spring semester ends.

"We are going to undergo a process of vaccinating as many students as possible," said SUNY Chancellor, Jim Malatras.

18,600 Johnson & Johnson vaccines are being distributed to 34 SUNY campuses— UAlbany being one of them. The number of campuses getting vaccines will expand each week, with each allotment.

"I think will know in a couple of months whether we need to take more aggressive measures or if this process of people voluntarily becoming vaccinated is enough," explained Malatras.

Nicole Tang shared this message for any college student thinking about getting vaccinated.

"Definitely get it because it help everyone in the long run," said Nicole Tang, a UAlbany Sophomore.

UAlbany has requested over a thousand Johnson & Johnson vaccines for the first allotment, which will be distributed late next week.

While the one dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine will make it easier to vaccinate students, UAlbany is looking for volunteers to help in the process. To sign up, you can contact, covid_vaccine@albany.edu

The 34 SUNY campuses getting the first allotment of vaccines are:

UAlbany, Adirondack Community College, Corning Community College, Old Westbury, Farmingdale State College, Oneonta, Orange County Community College, Potsdam, Canton, Rockland Community College, Suffolk County Community College, Finger Lakes Community College Monroe Community College, Niagara County Community College, Broome Community College, Cortland, Genesee Community College, Jefferson Community College, Mohawk Valley Community College, SUNY Morrisville, Binghamton University, Brockport, Buffalo State, University at Buffalo, Delhi, Geneseo, Maritime College, New Paltz, Optometry, Oswego, Polytechnic Institute, Alfred State College. Alfred University - NYS College of Ceramics, Stony Brook University