COVID-19 vaccine appointments open for SU students

Syracuse University Public Health Team sent out a school-wide email saying that Onondaga County expects to make a significant number of COVID-19 vaccine appointments available for eligible SU students at the OnCenter vaccination site starting March 25.

According to the email, eligibility categories include but are not limited to:

• Any student with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher is vaccine eligible now. (One may calculate the BMI by using this online calculator)
• Any student working on campus, whether paid or receiving course credit, is vaccine eligible now.
• Any student working part time as a for-hire vehicle driver (Uber or Lyft) or in food delivery is vaccine eligible now.
• Any student volunteering to serve in a public-facing role for a community organization is vaccine eligible now.
• Any student working in an in-person role (as an intern, paid or unpaid employee) at a P-12 school or school district is vaccine eligible.
• Any student working in a paid or unpaid role in a healthcare setting is vaccine eligible.
• Any student working in support of the University’s testing, contact tracing or other COVID-19 response is vaccine eligible.

Students with comorbidities and underlying conditions — such as obesity, cancer, chronic kidney disease, etc. — are also eligible. The full list can be found here via New York State COVID-19 Vaccination website.

To register for a vaccine, students should first make an appointment via Onondaga County’s COVID-19 Vaccination website. Right now, available appointments are for the Pfizer and Moderna vaccine, which both require a second dose.

After the registration, a confirmation email will be sent with links to two forms: a screening and consent form and a form attesting to your eligibility status, which will provide a “Submission ID” that can be shown on a phone. Students also need to bring proof of eligibility — which can be a driver’s license or a working proof letter — as well as their insurance cards, even though the vaccine will be given for free.

SU will also run a free shuttle — running on a continuous loop from 8:45 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. — from the College Place bus stop to County’s OnCenter Vaccination Clinic. The Public Health Team once again encourages all eligible students to be vaccinated.

“Like the flu and other communicable diseases, vaccination is the best protection against the spread of COVID-19,” the email stated.