Geneseo secured doses of the Johnson and Johnson (J&J) vaccine for students at Livingston County Department of Health clinics days before the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and New York State Department of Health paused administration of the vaccine.
Geneseo paused their administration of the J&J vaccine in accordance with this decision.
Before the decision was announced, SUNY was able to obtain 18,600 dosages of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to be distributed across 34 SUNY campuses. These dosages would have been provided to residential students hoping to be vaccinated before returning home at the end of the semester.
Since the start of J&J administration, six inoculated women have reported blood clots.
With the discovery of potential health-related side effects arising in individuals who received the J&J vaccine, the administration of this vaccine has been paused across the country. SUNY thus paused their administration of the vaccine as well.
Megan Syfrett, principal student health administrator, addressed some of the concerns sparked by this decision in an interview via email.
"With J&J on pause, SUNY has had to pause the program, as well," Syfrett said. "We have always followed the guidance and recommendations from the CDC, NYS, and our local Livingston County Department of Health during the COVID-19 pandemic, and we will continue to do so."
Despite Geneseo's pause in providing vaccine doses, the college is continuing to encourage students to get vaccinated. Chancellor of the State University of New York Jim Malatras released a statement regarding the pause in J&J administration and SUNY's response to this announcement.
"We are working with New York State to locate and receive alternative COVID-19 vaccines for our students," Malatras said in his statement. "We urge all students with appointments for the Johnson & Johnson vaccine to contact their campus or vaccination site because alternatives have already been found in some instances."
Malatras additionally requested that any student experiencing headache, abdominal pain, pain or shortness of breath within three weeks of receiving a dosage of the J&J vaccine should notify their campus or health provider. Malatras assured the SUNY community to continue to inform campuses as the situation with the Johnson & Johnson vaccine evolves.
Geneseo is not currently providing any clinics beyond the now-cancelled J&J vaccinations. However, the college hopes that individuals will be able to obtain dosages of either the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine until there are more accessible options available through the college and SUNY community.
"SUNY Geneseo continues to urge students to get vaccinated," Syfrett said. "We have shared information regarding local vaccine clinics and pharmacies where students can obtain the vaccine, such as Walmart, Wegmans, Walgreens and the Livingston County Dept of Health clinics."
Geneseo has sent out resources for students to register for the Moderna vaccine via email on April 14.
The college is encouraging students to get vaccinated in order to ensure the safety of all on-campus students, faculty and staff, and to make headway in establishing a safer campus community for the fall semester.
"Our ultimate goal is to have a safe and fully in-person college experience for our campus community for the fall semester," Syfrett said. "To have the safest campus environment, it would be ideal if every person who is eligible for the vaccine got vaccinated."