SYRACUSE, N.Y. (NCC News) – Students on the campus of Syracuse University are awaiting positive news on COVID-19. With vaccines from Pfizer and Modern already in circulation and another from Johnson & Johnson possibly on the way, many are wondering when they will be able to get the shot.
Students’ answers on when vaccines would be available varied greatly, ranging from before the end of the semester to even next year.
“It might not even be this semester I think,” said Dillon Williams, a freshman at Syracuse. “Maybe like June for the general public.”
“I don’t expect us to get the vaccine until [like] next year maybe, probably not this year,” said Tessa Pulgar, a sophomore.
Gray Warren, another freshman at the school, offered a different take.
“It’s hard to say because there hasn’t been any communication from the University. So I would say optimistically right before summer but I doubt it and I would say realistically, probably right when we come back next semester,” he said.
The news from New York State and Onondaga County is not on the whole bad, which might make students on campus more optimistic.
New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo, in a press conference earlier this week, provided an update on how vaccinations were going across the state.
“12% of New Yorkers have received a first dose. That’s really good news. Frankly I was surprised by that,” he said.
Also, infection rates in Onondaga County have taken a nosedive since January, and vaccinations are starting to pick up.
“Last week, there was [sic] widely reported vaccine delays. We were able to kind of [hodge-podge] our way around to make sure that we didn’t have to cancel clinics,” Onondaga County Executive J. Ryan McMahon said in a press conference.
Concerns remain on campus about the virus, however, some of them centered on the current testing process being undertaken by the University at the Carrier Dome. Warren hopes that vaccine rollout is more organized than testing.
“I know with testing there’s been some issues and people not going and it just being disorganized, so hopefully it’s a little more streamlined,” he said.
