The COVID vaccine is safe, effective, and it will allow Siena to get back to regular campus life.
That’s the message Nathaniel Kim ’21 and Annamaria Walden ’21 are sharing with their fellow students. As co-chairs of the Student Senate COVID safety and vaccine committee, the two biology majors are working on messaging and education to encourage their peers to get their shots. As of today, 30 percent of Siena students have uploaded proof that they are fully vaccinated. Hundreds more have had at least their first shot.
“The vaccine is a beacon of hope that we can return to normal at Siena – in-person classes, SienaFest, clubs and sports,” said Kim. “We all miss that.”
As part of the Siena/Albany Medical Center program, the two future physicians said this health education outreach is “right up our alley.” Their first step was sending out a four-question survey in March to assess attitudes on campus about the vaccine. They found there was still a “significant chunk” of students who were hesitant to get their shots. Reasons included fear of side effects, not liking needles, and not having enough information about the new vaccine.
The survey results formed the basis for the program they developed to support President Chris Gibson’s Siena Vaccine Challenge. As soon as 70 percent of Siena students are fully vaccinated, there will be operational changes that will allow for more social gatherings and less mask-wearing. That 70 percent will be a significant distance covered on the pathway to herd immunity at Siena.
Kim and Walden organized a presentation on the vaccine for Dr. Gibson’s March 25 student town hall, where specific questions and anxieties about the vaccine and the disease itself were addressed by Gibson and Raymond Walsh, M.D., director of the Siena/AMC program.
The College has held three on-campus clinics already, which gave more than 800 students the first in the two-shot Pfizer series. These students will receive shot #2 in follow-up clinics soon, and other clinics for first-timers could be scheduled shortly.
“The clinics were a really good, convenient opportunity for our campus. When students saw their peers getting the vaccine right here, it made the effort to get vaccine protection very visible and very real to everyone. If you’re hesitant to get the vaccine, reach out to someone who has already had it. Another student can go with you or talk to you about it.”
Annamaria Walden '21