Liberty, NY – As Sullivan County crosses the 50%-vaccinated threshold, its Public Health Services team is now preparing to inoculate local schools’ 16- and 17-year-old students with the Pfizer vaccine – the only vaccine currently authorized for use in those under 18.
“We are launching our first school clinic at Monticello’s Robert J. Kaiser Middle School this Tuesday, May 11,” affirms Public Health Director Nancy McGraw. “The first dose of the Pfizer vaccine will be available to any high school student over 16, with parental consent, plus anyone over 18.”
The current clinic opportunities for high school students 16+ (also open to the general public, and walk-ins ARE welcome):
- Tuesday, May 11, 3-7 p.m. – RJK Middle School, Monticello – register at https://tinyurl.com/4edkpwdu
- Friday, May 14, 3-7 p.m. – Livingston Manor Central School – register at https://tinyurl.com/j24eyn8c
- Monday, May 17, 3-7 p.m. – Sullivan West High School, Lake Huntington – register at https://tinyurl.com/2mhvbdsx
- Friday, May 21, 3-7 p.m. – Liberty High School – register at https://tinyurl.com/2fxsnau4
Public Health is also offering the one-shot Janssen vaccine (walk-ins ARE welcome, though pre-registration is available):
- Friday, May 14, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. – Livingston Manor Central School – register at https://tinyurl.com/bb3bphms
- Monday, May 17, 3-7 p.m. – Sullivan West High School, Lake Huntington – register at https://tinyurl.com/4rpheh3j
A community-based clinic is also scheduled, giving the first shot of the two-dose Moderna vaccine (walk-ins ARE welcome, though pre-registration is available):
- Tuesday, May 18, 11 a.m.-2 p.m. – Woodridge Village Hall – register at https://tinyurl.com/437zby5v
Public Health will also be holding second-dose Moderna clinics in Loch Sheldrake and White Lake in the coming weeks, open only to those who received their first doses at those locations.
For those who need help registering for or getting to a clinic, contact Sullivan County’s Emergency Community Assistance Center at 845-807-0925. Vaccines continue to be widely available at pharmacies, hospitals, mass vaccination sites operated by New York State, local health departments, and other providers statewide. More info is available at www.sullivanny.us/departments/publichealth/covidvaccines.
Public Health Communicates with School Leaders
On May 6, Director McGraw sent a letter to the superintendents of Sullivan County’s public and private schools, noting that studies indicate a low risk of COVID-19 transmission in schools.
“In Sullivan County public school districts, from Oct. 1, 2020-May 4, 2021, according to data available to the health department from the Statewide contact tracing system, there were 3,729 contacts (exposures) who were associated with a school setting in some way,” she wrote.
“… Only 33 (.9%) ended up testing positive. In addition, only 3.9% of the positive cases … ended up developing symptoms that resulted in a positive test or became epidemiologically linked based off of case definition.”
Additionally, thanks to schools’ collaboration with Public Health, approximately 60% of all local educational workers – from teachers to administrators to clerks – have already been vaccinated through County-run clinics. McGraw estimated that percentage to be notably higher when counting workers who participated in non-County-run clinics.
Such data suggests “that schools might be able to safely open to full in-person learning with appropriate mitigation efforts in place” and that “spacing children at least 3 feet apart on school buses (although 6 feet is ideal), while requiring masks, with windows open for ventilation, is safe and will provide enough protection to further mitigate transmission of virus.”
Nonetheless, the decision for school districts to resume 4 to 5 days per week in-person learning for students is a local district determination and will be dependent on resources and other factors that may be unique to each district, especially since the end of school is just a few weeks away.