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Syracuse University is seeking state authorization to become a COVID-19 vaccination site.

The campus has already purchased and installed freezers to store the vaccine, said Vice Chancellor Mike Haynie, who has led SU’s COVID-19 response, at a press conference in early March. The university only needs state approval.

“Syracuse University is ready to be activated as a point of distribution for the vaccine,” Haynie said. “We have told the state that we’re ready. Activate us. Give us the vaccine and we’ll take care of the SU campus community.”

If the state approves SU as a vaccination site, here are the guidelines the university would have to follow:

Appointment scheduling

If approved as a vaccine provider, SU would need to follow the state’s guidance for prioritization — only eligible students and employees would be able to receive the vaccine, though some are already eligible.

COVID-19 vaccine providers are required to follow New York state’s guidance on who is eligible to receive the vaccine. The state’s current criteria for eligibility includes residents 50 or older, as well as health care, child care, public transit, restaurant, grocery and hotel employees.

Delivery service workers, residents and staff at long term care or congregate facilities, public facing staff at government or nonprofit agencies and people with multiple underlying health conditions are also eligible.

Vaccine providers are required to verify each individual’s eligibility before administering the vaccine.

Providers must also keep a “standby” list of eligible individuals who would be notified as appointment slots open up. As soon as a provider is made aware that there are more doses than individuals with appointments, they must call someone on the standby list to administer the extra shots.

Using doses

Vaccine providers in New York state are required to administer every dose that is allocated to them within seven days of receiving the dose, under the state’s “Use it or Lose it” policy. Providers that don’t comply could lose remaining doses and be left out of future dose allocations.

If a provider is not on track to administer all its doses, it must notify the state within five days of receiving the doses. Providers cannot redistribute doses to other vaccine providers without the state’s approval.

Syringes must be used within six hours of being filled for both first and second dose shots for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.

Second doses

Providers that administer the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, which both require two doses, must schedule appointments for second doses when the first dose is administered. Patients must return to the same vaccine provider for their second dose.

The state allocates second doses so they arrive when patients need them. First dose shots may not be used for second doses.

Current state vaccination sites

The state currently operates 32 vaccination sites, two of which are in Syracuse. Binghamton, Utica and Albany also house state-operated vaccination sites.

The State Fair Exposition Center site, in Syracuse, offers both the Johnson & Johnson and Pfizer vaccines, though appointments are currently only open for the Pfizer vaccine.

As of Sunday, the state reported that it had administered over 8 million doses and over 1 million in the past week. In central New York, 307,474 people have received at least one dose of the vaccine and 187,990 are fully vaccinated.

As of Sunday, 29.2% of New York residents have at least one dose of the vaccine.

Published on March 28, 2021 at 8:41 pm

Contact Mira: mlberenb@syr.edu