Brooklyn Hospital Center Offering Appointments To College Students

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By Allison Kaspar

In early April, New York broadened COVID-19 vaccine eligibility to all New Yorkers age 16 and older. Earlier this week SJC Brooklyn emailed all students and faculty notifying them that Brooklyn Hospital Center has appointments available to administer the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine. 

Despite the new provisions, it is to be expected that those newly eligible for the vaccine will encounter distress regarding scheduling an appointment. Each time that the vaccine pool has expanded, there has been confusion around appointments, vanishing appointments, and technical issues.

Thus far SJC students have reported no problems regarding access to appointments at Brooklyn Hospital Center.

The new age range also comes with the caveat that parental consent is mandatory for all minors receiving the vaccine. However, there are a few special exceptions including teens who are married and teens who are parents themselves. 

Scheduling the vaccine is only half the battle. Many vaccine recipients express that they experience cold sweats, fever, and extreme fatigue after receiving the shot. 

Scientists and doctors have explained, before the release of a COVID-19 vaccine, that side effects are to be expected. However, while some experience a wide range of symptoms, other recipients manage to feel nothing at all. 

“I recently got the Pfizer Vaccine at Stony Brook University,” states Isabella Calabrese, a sophomore at SJC Brooklyn. “After the first dose I had a sore arm, but after the second I was noticeably fatigued.” 

While waiting in line for a second vaccine at Stony Brook University's Research and Development Park, 54-year-old Caitlyn Arnold and her husband James, 56, revealed that they had different reactions after they got their vaccines in late March. But while Caitlyn experienced extreme fatigue and ran a fever, her husband explained that he had not experienced any side effects. 

Both Caitlyn and her husband had received the Pfizer vaccine which has been widely associated with various side effects, most people recorded that their side effects were more severe after their second vaccination.

Experts also disclosed that while side effects are experienced universally, young adults will typically have more severe symptoms after the injection. 

After their second vaccine, people 18 to 55 years old (78%) reported injection site pain more frequently than adults above age 55 (66%).

In a recent study, the CDC found a single round of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to be around 80 percent effective in preventing infection. Dr. Anthony Fauci, however, says people should not stop after a single dose. 

“When you look at the level of protection after one dose, you can say it's 80%, but it is somewhat of a tenuous 80%,” Fauci stated at a recent White House news briefing. “When you leave it at one dose, the question is how long does it last?”

As of late April, it is still unclear how long the vaccine will last. According to the latest CDC data, nearly 42 percent of U.S. adults age 18 and older have received at least one vaccine dose, while 24.4 percent are fully immunized. 

After receiving her second dose, Calabrese explains that she is “grateful for being able to get the vaccine,” and pleased that “SJC notifies its students of vaccine accessibility.”