As states across the country expand eligibility for COVID-19 vaccines, some university students qualify for the shot in their home states, prompting them to travel miles outside of Ocean State and back to get their first and second doses.
In Rhode Island, residents 65 and over have become teachers and child carers last entitled for the vaccine. Most Brown students don’t qualify for Ocean State just yet.
However, because each state has its own vaccination program, many students working on the front lines or suffering from an underlying disease are already eligible to get the vaccine elsewhere. Some traveled there and back in less than 24 hours by train, plane, or car to get their shots.
Marc Fernandez ’24 received his second dose of the vaccine on January 28, one day after the end of the university’s first period of rest. Fernandez lives on Long Island, NY and works as a paramedic, which made him eligible for the vaccine in the state. “Considering I was gone less than 24 hours, (Brown) approved this,” Fernandez said.
Students are allowed to leave Rhode Island to receive the vaccine if they return within a day. This comes from an email verified by The Herald that Fernandez received from a dean of Student Support. All students must apply for Student Support Services approval and may need to undergo a seven-day quarantine “based on location of travel, travel method, time off campus, and other factors,” university spokesman Brian Clark wrote in one Email to The Herald.
Eligible students are allowed to travel home for a day to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Howard Silverman ’22 required air travel to return to his home state of Maryland. Since he works for his local fire department, he was able to receive his first dose of the vaccine during the winter break in late December. Silverman flew home on January 26th for his second dose the next day. Silverman flew back to Providence the same day he was fully vaccinated.
Silverman felt “perfectly fine” immediately after his second dose, but the next morning he woke up sweating and shivering. “I felt terrible,” he said. “The next day I felt much better and two days later I was back to normal.”
Amanda Vera ’23 was able to get the vaccine in her home state of New Jersey because she had volunteered at the hospital where her mother works in the past. When her mother found out that active and inactive volunteers at the hospital were eligible for the vaccine, Vera “made an appointment and made it happen.”
Eligible students are allowed to travel home for a day to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Vera boarded an Amtrak train at 6 a.m. on February 20 and arrived at the hospital for her 12 p.m. appointment before her parents drove her back to campus that afternoon.
She also had some cold symptoms after receiving her second shot, but said, “A Tylenol and a few bottles of water later, I was fine.”
After the vaccination, Vera feels that she can now “walk around with less fear”. She added that she was lucky enough to get the vaccine in the first place because the vaccine rollout was disorganized at the national level.
“The vaccination wasn’t necessarily on my radar because it is not widely known who is eligible or where to get it,” Vera said. “I think it’s very vague how things are going.”
The introduction of the vaccine in the country has been largely decentralized, with each state devising its own plan for prioritizing the vaccine. New Jersey is currently vaccinate Frontline workers and first responders, 65 years of age and older, those with underlying health conditions, teachers, school staff, and child carers.
MarylandSilverman’s home state is currently in Phase 1C, which will include lawyers, government officials, and hospitality, transportation and religious groups in the same groups as in New Jersey’s plan. new York has made similar groups eligible, with the addition of food delivery and hotel staff.
The recent one Approval the Johnson and Johnson vaccine will help Increase supply in the United States may accelerate national vaccination efforts.
The university does not currently distribute vaccines to students or faculty, but “that may change as the vaccine becomes more readily available,” according to the Healthy brown website. In a town hall hosted Tuesday by the Undergraduate Council of Students, Executive Vice President of Planning and Policy Russell Carey ’91 MA’06 announced that the university may host a vaccination clinic “as the months go by and the supply something becomes wider and deeper, ”The Herald before reported.
“Brown as an institution should take important steps to vaccinate the entire student body,” Vera said.
She argued that the university had the resources to ensure that low-income students – who may not have the financial resources to travel to get vaccinated – can get the shot. “It would be the most efficient way to get as many people as possible vaccinated if it is available specifically through Brown,” Vera said.
Fernandez will be in Providence for classes this summer as his first year. He said the university should “absolutely” try to vaccinate students who live on campus for the summer semester, “provided it is possible and reasonable.” Staff and administration should be the first to be vaccinated, “considering they are the backbone of everything that’s happening.”
Silverman said he believes it is crucial if everyone can be vaccinated. “College students are the ones who spread it the most,” he said, “so hopefully we can stop (the pandemic) a little faster if we get vaccinated.”
By whatever means available, he said, “Get (the vaccine) as soon as possible.”
Explanation: This article has been updated to reflect University Spokesperson Brian Clark’s comment on the approval process for leaving campus to obtain the vaccine and the return protocol.
