Vassar College teamed up last week with Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth) to administer more than 500 doses of COVID-19 vaccine to students. About 440 students were vaccinated on campus last Monday and an additional 85 received their shots at MidHudson Regional Hospital in the Town of Poughkeepsie on Friday, April 16. College President Elizabeth H. Bradley said more vaccine is expected to be delivered soon.

“All of us at the College are grateful to New York State and WMCHealth for providing these first batches of vaccine for our campus,” President Bradley said. “This is another significant milestone in our ongoing efforts to ensure the health and safety of everyone at Vassar.”

Margot Schinella ’06, the College’s Director of Health Services, said last week’s vaccinations bring the total number of students who have received at least one shot to about 1,100 – more than one-third of the student population. Bradley recently announced that all students must be fully vaccinated in order to enroll in the fall, with exceptions for medical or religious reasons, when the College expects to return to full, in-person learning.

Vassar junior Carina Leung was one of the more than 80 students who were transported by bus to MidHudson Regional Hospital for her first COVID shot on Friday. She called the experience easy and painless. “I filled out a consent form, got on the bus, got my shot, waited 15 minutes and came back to campus,” Leung said. “I’ve been stressed for a while about not being immunized, so I’m pleased to be on my way.”

First year student Avery Duer agreed. “It was quick and painless,” Duer said. “I want to thank Vassar for making this so easy. I’ve had a great college experience so far, and this will make it even better.”

Michael D. Israel, President and CEO of WMCHealth, said the organization had been responsible for managing more than one million COVID-19 vaccine doses in the region. “This historic undertaking would not be possible without Vassar College and the hundreds of other organizations that are working with us – arm-in-arm – to get vaccines into the arms of all who are eligible,” Israel said. “These partnerships are critical to the success of this effort and all of us a WMCHealth would like to thank Vassar College for their collaboration.”

About Westchester Medical Center Health Network
The Westchester Medical Center Health Network (WMCHealth) is a 1,700-bed healthcare system headquartered in Valhalla, New York, with 10 hospitals on eight campuses spanning 6,200 square miles of the Hudson Valley. WMCHealth employs more than 13,000 people and has nearly 3,000 attending physicians. From Level 1, Level 2 and Pediatric Trauma Centers, the region’s only acute care children’s hospital, an academic medical center, several community hospitals, dozens of specialized institutes and centers, Comprehensive and Primary Stroke Centers, skilled nursing, assisted living facilities, homecare services and one of the largest mental health systems in New York State, today WMCHealth is the pre-eminent provider of integrated healthcare in the Hudson Valley. For more information about WMCHealth, visit WMCHealth.org or follow at WMCHealth at Facebook.com/WMCHealth or Instagram.com/WMCHealth.

Contact: Larry Hertz, lahertz@vassar.edu, 845-518-3098 (Vassar College)

Andrew LaGuardia, Andrew.laguardia@wmchealth.org, 914-493-6532 (WMCHealth)

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VIDEO: Interview link