Partnering with the Community in the COVID-19 Fight

A volunteer delivers a vaccine dose to a New York State Resident at the Vaccine POD at Yankee Stadium in the Bronx.

(Photo by U.S. Air Force Reserve Staff Sgt. Christopher S. Muncy)

ALBANY, N.Y. (March 4, 2021) – With over three million doses delivered, New York’s efforts to vaccinate its more than 19 million citizens is in full effect. The University at Albany is front-and-center in that battle partnering with the state to protect the community by hosting drive-thru testing and vaccination POD (point of dispensing) sites on the Uptown Campus.

The vaccine POD site, which opened January 15, has been central to inoculating Capital Region residents, with about 66,000 doses delivered as of Tuesday. Meanwhile, UAlbany’s diagnostic testing site has administered more than 150,000 tests since it opened in April 2020.

Vaccine tent at UAlbany — (Photo by Blanca Angelica Gonzalez-Parker for the University at Albany)

The vaccination site includes a large walk-in tent located in the Northwest parking lot on campus. The site has the capacity to provide more than 1,000 shots per day and continues to increase capacity as doses become available.

The vaccination site is run by the New York State Department of Health, with assistance from the New York Army National Guard. You can check your vaccine eligibility online or call the state’s COVID-19 vaccination hotline at 1-833-697-4829 to request an appointment.

"We're honored that UAlbany has been able to serve as an integral resource as New York tackles the critical task of vaccinating its citizens, especially the most vulnerable among us," said Alfredo Medina, Jr., executive director of the Office for Public Engagement. "This partnership underscores the University's commitment to public engagement and service."

In addition, UAlbany continues to host upstate New York’s first state-run COVID-19 drive-through diagnostic testing site in the State Quad parking lot.

Vaccination Plan for the Campus Community

Information regarding vaccination eligibility for UAlbany students and employees who are not currently eligible will be shared as soon as the University receives guidance from federal, state or county officials.

The University has had a base plan to operate a POD site and an agreement in place with the Albany County Department of Health since before the pandemic began as part of its routine emergency management planning.

“The process we are going through now is adapting that base plan to the specific circumstances of this pandemic and these vaccines,” said Stephen Conard, emergency management program manager, UAlbany. “For example, the vaccines currently approved for emergency use in the United States have specific storage requirements and require different dose administrations within a specific timeframe.”

The University has identified several potentially viable POD locations on campus and is in the process of reviewing them for facilities or IT upgrades that may be necessary, as well as working to identify staff to support it. Ultimately, it will be up to the county and the state whether a POD site is activated before the end of the spring semester.

More details will be shared once the University is given guidance on next steps.