Covid-19: SUNY Chancellor Says Colleges Could Reopen With Vaccine Eligibility Opening To 16+

With COVID-19 vaccine eligibility expanding to all New Yorkers 16 and older next week, SUNY schools are gearing up to open back up for in-person learning in the fall.

Zak Failla

03/31/2021 8:30 a.m.

SUNY Chancellor Jim Malatras announced that SUNY campuses can fully reopen in the fall, provided enough students, staff members, and faculty take the COVID-19 vaccine.

As of Monday, April 6, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that anyone 16 and older will be eligible to receive the vaccine opening the door for SUNY campuses to fully open up when students return in the fall.

Malatras called that move “a game-changer,” while announcing the intention to have campuses return to the “new normal.”

Currently, 36 SUNY campuses are serving as vaccination sites, and will act as a “built-in infrastructure” to get students and staff safely vaccinated upon their return to campus.

As of Tuesday, March 30, more than 700,000 COVID-19 vaccines have been administered at SUNY vaccination sites.

 With more people now eligible, the professionals working these sites are ready to help the rest of NY get their shots to be safe and end this pandemic,” officials said.

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