Stony Brook University will administer up to 5,000 Covid-19 vaccinations in a two day blitz that targets Suffolk County’s first responders.
Paramedics, police officers and other frontline workers lined up Tuesday at Stony Brook’s student union to receive their first dose of the Moderna vaccine.
Alyssa Mangino is a medical student at the university who’s been helping administer the shots. She said the rollout is running smoothly.
“We have screening forms, everyone's getting checked to make sure it's safe for them to get vaccinated. And then they're being sent up here. A medical director looks at everything to make sure they're good again. And then they come to one of our stations and we check their forms and vaccinate them,” Mangino said.
The second dose of the Moderna vaccine comes 28 days later.
Lawrence Zacarese is the university’s police chief.
“I think it's working very well. It's a statewide effort. It's a national effort. But we’re here doing our part here at Stony Brook, both with our medicine partners and for the community at large,” Zacarese said.
Zacarese said Stony Brook has played a key role in the county’s battle against the virus — from the testing center rollout this spring, to patient care at the hospital, and now, the vaccination effort.
Nursing home residents and staff are also eligible for vaccinations in the first wave according to state guidelines.
Governor Andrew Cuomo has said the majority of the state’s vaccine stockpile has been sent to New York City and Long Island.
