New York will be able to vaccinate those over 16 years of age

NEW YORK (AP) – People age 16 and older will be able to get the coronavirus vaccine in New York starting Tuesday, by expanding the eligible population as the state is trying to immunize the largest number. possible of people.

At the same time, the State University of New York (SUNY) announced plans to vaccinate thousands of students before they go home for the summer.

Last week, Governor Andrew Cuomo expanded the possibility that those older than 30 years could be vaccinated and announced that the population between 16 and 29 years of age will be able to do so as of April 6.

Young people 16 or 17 years of age can only receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, as it is the only one approved for children under 18. Parental consent will be required for young people 16 or 17 years of age to receive the vaccine, With the exception of those who are married or have children.

So far, none of the existing vaccines have been approved for the population under 16 years of age.

SUNY students will receive the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, which is a single dose and therefore will allow them to be fully inoculated before the end of May, when the semester ends.

Some colleges, including Rutgers and Cornell, have said they will require students to be vaccinated as a condition for returning in the fall, but SUNY has not said whether vaccinations will be mandatory.

The rector of that university, Jim Malatras, revealed that the public university system has already received its first shipment of vaccines and that it is coordinating with the state to reserve additional doses for students. Authorities were distributing some 18,600 vaccines in 34 educational facilities on Tuesday.

More than 350,000 will receive emails urging them to make an appointment to get vaccinated, according to SUNY.

About one in five New York State residents is already fully inoculated, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Just over a third of the state’s population has received at least one dose.

The new schedule allows another 1.7 million people to receive the vaccine for a total of 15.9 million individuals, according to the New York State Department of Health.

Malatras revealed that the university vaccination plan began to be developed for months.

“Giving students the option of getting the single-dose vaccine helps to solve an important logistical problem in the efforts to ensure that everyone is fully vaccinated before they leave campus and go to their communities of origin,” he said. Malatras.

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