Learn more from SUNY and community experts at suny.edu/knowyourvax, or talk to your doctor or campus health center for more information.
Read SUNY Schenectady's full Surveillance Testing Plan
SUNY Schenectady continues to take steps to protect the health and safety of the campus community. Given the recent spikes in COVID-19 cases being reported at our nation’s Colleges and Universities, all students taking at least one on-campus class will be required to submit to a COVID-19 saliva test every week that they are on-campus. This protocol has been adopted at every SUNY campus across the state.
This testing will be mandatory for students and will allow SUNY Schenectady to identify cases among students early on and take steps to prevent further spread of the virus.
County Information:
Schenectady County: COVID-19 Vaccination Information
The availability of appointments is dependent upon how many vaccines New York State receives, and where those vaccines are allocated to. If no appointments are available, continue to check these sources frequently for updated information.
Albany County: Pre-registration Link
Albany County has information on their vaccination response on their website. Click here.
New York State COVID-19 Vaccine Tracker to see how many vaccines have been distributed and administered across the state.
You need an appointment. If you visit a location without an appointment and the appropriate verification of your eligibility, you will not receive a vaccine.
Fulton County: COVID-19 Information
Fulton County is part of the Mohawk Valley Regional network and is not scheduling public appointments for vaccine at this time. The supply for vaccine is not as high as the demand is at this time. The process to vaccinate all individuals will take months.
Montgomery County: COVID-19 Important Information
Montgomery County COVID-19 Vaccine Waitlist Hotline: 518-853-8247
Rensselaer County: COVID-19 Vaccine Information
Rensselaer County is referring residents to the NYS hotline: The NYS COVID-19 Vaccination Hotline is open 7AM - 10PM, 7 days a week, for scheduling vaccination appointments for eligible New Yorkers: 1-833-NYS-4-VAX (1-833-697-4829)
Saratoga County: Potential Vaccine Recipient Interest List
Saratoga County Public Health Services COVID-19 Hotline 518-885-2276. Monday-Friday, 8:30am-4pm. Be sure to include this number in your contact list so it is unblocked and does not appear as SPAM.
Schoharie County: Schoharie County Department of Health
The Department of Health received vaccine to conduct a first dose Vaccination Clinic for Medically Compromised Individuals on Wednesday, March 3, 2021 in the main county office building basement, from 10am to 1pm.
Help stop the pandemic by getting vaccinated
What we know
Studies show that COVID-19 vaccines are effective at keeping you from getting COVID-19. Experts also think that getting a COVID-19 vaccine may help keep you from getting seriously ill even if you do get COVID-19.
COVID-19 vaccination is an important tool to help us get back to normal. Learn more about the benefits of getting vaccinated.
COVID-19 vaccines teach our immune systems how to recognize and fight the virus that causes COVID-19. It typically takes a few weeks after vaccination for the body to build protection (immunity) against the virus that causes COVID-19. That means it is possible a person could still get COVID-19 just after vaccination. This is because the vaccine has not had enough time to provide protection.
There are steps you can take to protect yourself until you can get vaccinated. Even after you get vaccinated it’s important to continue using all the tools available to help stop this pandemic as we learn more about how COVID-19 vaccines work in real-world conditions. Even after vaccination, take steps to protect yourself and others from COVID-19.
Although COVID-19 vaccines are effective at keeping you from getting sick, scientists are still learning how well vaccines prevent you from spreading the virus that causes COVID-19 to others, even if you do not get sick.
If you are vaccinated against COVID-19, you may still be exposed to the virus that causes COVID-19. After exposure, people can be infected with or “carry” the virus that causes COVID-19 but not feel sick or have any symptoms. Experts call this “asymptomatic infection.”
For this reason, even after vaccination, we need to continue using all the tools available to help stop this pandemic as we learn more about how COVID-19 vaccines work in real-world conditions.
Millions of people in the United States have received COVID-19 vaccines, and these vaccines have undergone the most intensive safety monitoring in U.S. history. This monitoring includes using both established and new safety monitoring systems to make sure that COVID-19 vaccines are safe. These vaccines cannot give you COVID-19. Learn more facts about COVID-19 vaccines.
CDC has developed a new tool, v-safe, to help us quickly find any safety issues with COVID-19 vaccines. V-safe is a smartphone-based, after-vaccination health checker for people who receive COVID-19 vaccines. Learn how the federal government is working to ensure the safety of COVID-19 vaccines.
After COVID-19 vaccination, you may have some side effects. These are normal signs that your body is building protection. The side effects from COVID-19 vaccination, such as chills or tiredness, may affect your ability to do daily activities, and they should go away in a few days. Learn more about what to expect after getting vaccinated.
Although the vaccine supply is currently limited, the federal government is working toward making vaccines widely available for everyone at no cost. Learn more about how COVID-19 vaccines get to you and who should get vaccinated first when supplies are limited.
The federal government is providing the vaccine free of charge to people living in the United States. However, your vaccination provider may bill your insurance company, Medicaid, or Medicare for an administration fee. Vaccination providers can be reimbursed for this by the patient’s public or private insurance company or, for uninsured patients, by the Health Resources and Services Administration’s Provider Relief Fund. No one can be denied a vaccine if they are unable to pay the vaccine administration fee.
In the coming months, doctors’ offices, retail pharmacies, hospitals, and clinics will offer COVID-19 vaccine. Your doctor’s office or local pharmacy may have contacted you with information about their vaccination plans. Use this tool to find more information on how to get vaccinated in your area:
How Do I Get a Vaccine?
CDC makes recommendations for who should get the vaccine first, then each state makes its own plan.
Choose your state or territory below to find your health department:
Herd immunity means that enough people in a community are protected from getting a disease because they’ve already had the disease or because they’ve been vaccinated. Herd immunity makes it hard for the disease to spread from person to person, and it even protects those who cannot be vaccinated, like newborns or people who are allergic to the vaccine. The percentage of people who need to have protection to achieve herd immunity varies by disease.
Experts do not yet know what percentage of people would need to get vaccinated to achieve herd immunity to COVID-19. CDC and other experts are studying herd immunity and will provide more information as it is available.
CDC is continuing to investigate the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines. Scientists also are working to learn about new variants of the virus. More studies are needed to understand how new variants may affect the effectiveness of existing COVID-19 vaccines.
Our knowledge of the characteristics of new variants is rapidly growing. CDC will share updates as soon as they are available. For more information, please visit https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/transmission/variant.html.