Vaccination is key to ending the pandemic and finishing strong. So, when the opportunity comes, protect yourself and your community.
Fall Vaccination Requirements
The University will require all students and employees living and working on campus to be fully vaccinated for the fall semester. Learn more about the requirements and possible exemptions at the links below.
Vaccination at Colgate
Colgate has been approved to serve as a site for dispensing the COVID-19 vaccine. The University will support the Madison County Department of Health’s distribution efforts.
The University is currently administering COVID-19 vaccine as doses are received, following New York State’s distribution guidelines.
Watch campus communications for your opportunity to register.
Vaccination at Off-Campus Locations
If you are currently eligible for vaccination, do not wait for doses to arrive on campus, as you may be able to secure a vaccine sooner at an off-campus provider. Use the New York State Am I Eligible engine or the Madison County COVID-19 website to find a point of dispensing near you, today. Working or studying remotely outside the region? Try vaccinefinder.org.
Morrisville Vaccination Site
Many members of the Colgate community have been able to register with the county to receive a vaccine from the vaccination clinic on the SUNY Morrisville campus, only a 15-minute drive from campus.
Remember:
- COVID-19 vaccines are safe, free, and effective.
- Getting vaccinated is the best way to protect yourself and others from COVID-19.
- COVID-19 vaccines cannot give you COVID-19.
- People who have already had COVID-19 may still benefit from getting vaccinated.
- A vaccination does not excuse you from the Commitment to Community Health and the University’s testing protocol.
Colgate strongly encourages COVID-19 vaccination to safeguard community health. Vaccination is not currently required.
Absolutely not. All three vaccines have shown almost 100% effectiveness at preventing hospitalization and death following SARS-CoV-2 infection — the primary goal. Additionally, because the J&J trial was slightly delayed, it was tested when SARS-CoV-2 variants were circulating, so it faced a tougher test. The fact that it displayed such a high efficacy in trials is impressive, given the nature of the variants. The J&J vaccine has the added benefit of being a single dose — you reach full immunity sooner than with either of the others. So if you get vaccinated now, by the start of finals week, you won’t have to quarantine if you are identified as a close contact.
— Geoff Holm, associate professor of biology
No. The mRNA from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines never enter the nucleus of the cell, where our DNA is kept. J&J uses a modified version of a different, harmless virus to deliver important protection-building instructions in the form of genetic material that does not integrate into a person’s DNA. At the end of either process, our bodies have learned how to protect against future infection from COVID-19 if the real virus enters our bodies. The takeaway: Opt for whatever vaccine is available to you. They’re all safe, effective, and vetted.
SOURCE: U.S. Centers for Disease Control
Effects of SARS-CoV-2 infection vary unpredictably from minor to deadly — even in young people. Our Commitment to Community Health helps to keep spread to a minimum, but SARS-CoV-2 immunity is the key to returning to normal in the fall. “No virus has ever eliminated itself by inducing natural immunity in a large percentage of the population. Only herd immunity induced by vaccination can eliminate viruses, as has now been shown for smallpox and two of the three different types of poliovirus.”
SOURCE: Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
If you are a college student studying in New York State, you can be vaccinated here, even if your permanent residence is elsewhere. Just be sure, when you sign up for your first shot, that you will be in the area to receive your second dose. Don’t let out-of-state residency prevent you from signing up for vaccination if you are otherwise eligible.
No. Because these vaccines do not use live strains of the virus, you will not show as positive on tests for current infection. (The CDC notes that your new immune response might result in a positive on some antibody tests, showing that you have “some level of protection against the virus. Experts are currently looking at how COVID-19 vaccination may affect antibody testing results.”)