Hofstra supplies the COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine to students

With a push to resume in-person learning in the fall Hofstra plans to vaccinate as many students as possible. // Photo courtesy of Dado Revic / Reuters.

Hofstra University has partnered with Northwell Health to provide doses of the COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine to Hofstra students. The first round of vaccines was administered from Tuesday, April 6 to Friday, April 9 at a vaccination pod set up by Northwell Health at the Physical Education Building. According to an email sent by Student Affairs on Wednesday, March 31, doses would be supplied to the first 2,000 students to call the following morning at 8 a.m.

Student Affairs sent another email the following Saturday evening informing students that another 1,000 doses would be available to Hofstra students on Thursday, April 15 and Friday, April 16. These were also supplied on a first-call-first-sign-up basis the next morning at 8 a.m.

“I think it’s important for everybody to be vaccinated,” said David Hirschwerk, interim chair of medicine at the Zucker School of Medicine and infectious disease specialist. “It will allow for college life to return closer to what people have generally recognized it to be.”

The morning after students received the email from Student Affairs, the Northwell Health COVID-19 vaccine hotline received a frenzy of calls from students eager to be vaccinated. As was to be expected, an overwhelming number of students called the hotline, resulting in frustrating wait times.

“Scheduling was a little difficult on the [phone line] Hofstra gave us,” said Kaitlyn Redican, a sophomore psychology major, “but I called Northwell separately and got through real quick.”

Gabe Jones, a freshman filmmaking major, had a similar experience. “Trying to book an appointment and listening to the hold music for an hour and a half was [not] painless,” he said. However, the vaccine appointment itself was simple and efficient, according to Jones.

Redican expressed her gratitude to the University in providing these vaccines for students, as it has been difficult for many people to find and schedule appointments to receive the vaccine even if they are eligible.

“I was so impressed with how many vaccines Hofstra was able to get,” she said. “It was so great that it was on campus because I know people who’ve had to drive five hours for theirs.”

Other students felt frustrated and displeased with the short notice regarding the on-campus vaccine availability. Alex Oxford, a freshman drama major, was frustrated that Hofstra sent the email announcing the news only the night before students were expected to call the vaccine hotline.

“I would not have seen [the email] if my friends did not tell me. It was really frustrating to not know what was going to happen until the night before because they expected us to wake up and call the number the next morning,” she said. “When it is potentially a life-saving vaccine, what is essentially a cellphone lottery was not necessarily the best way to go about things.”

All vaccine appointments were booked, with Student Affairs later allowing students who were unable to make an appointment to put their names on a wait list. These students were called if there were any cancellations.

Despite the chaos surrounding on-campus vaccinations, students are hopeful that more of the student population becoming vaccinated will result in an ease in restrictions from the University.

“The biggest difficulty of the pandemic is my classes,” Jones said. “Covid restrictions really limit how we can do class activities and group work, and it makes it hard to get to know my classmates.” Although the COVID-19 pandemic has put a hold on traditional classroom learning, he is hoping that the vaccine will turn things around.

Hirschwerk urged students to remain mindful and continue to wear a mask when in large crowds or indoors. While some students may have reservations about receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, Hirschwerk ensured the Hofstra community that many clinical trials have proven it to be effective.

“In the United States, almost one hundred million people have received their first vaccine and it has proven to be effective and it has proven to be very safe,” he said. “For those reasons, I would strongly encourage people to accept the vaccine.”

Robert Stahl, executive director of Student Health Services at Hofstra encourages students to reach out if they have any specific questions or concerns regarding the vaccine.

Other universities across the country like Rutgers, Brown, Cornell and Northeastern are requiring their students to be vaccinated to be on campus. However, Hofstra has not announced if they will do the same.

“Hofstra is encouraging all members of its community to get the COVID-19 vaccine when they become eligible,” said Robert Stahl, executive director of student health services. “The University has not yet made a determination about requiring the vaccination and is awaiting further guidance from the FDA and New York State.”

As of now, the University has not said if a third round of doses will be made available to students on campus. However, with many members of the Hofstra community partially or fully vaccinated and the University working to supply vaccines to students, campus life seems to be heading in a positive direction.