Better Last Than Not At All: NYS DOH Opens Covid-19 Vaccination Center in Rockland Community College

U.S. Congressman Mondaire Jones (D) , joined by several elected officials from Rockland, on Friday, April 1, welcomed the New York State Department of Health’s new Covid-19 Vaccination Center at The Eugene Levy Fieldhouse at Rockland Community College.

Rockland was and remains one of the worst hotspots of the coronavirus pandemic, but the last to receive a NYS DOH facility open for residents in the Hudson Valley.

“This is no April Fool’s joke,” said County Executive Ed Day, as he thanked his colleagues for helping to open a site for residents who’ve previously had to look outside Rockland for a chance at getting a vaccination.

Jones was joined by NYS Senator James Skoufis (D), NYS Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski (D), Vice-Chair of the Rockland County Legislature Annie Paul and Dr. Michael Baston, President of RCC. All welcomed the long overdue vaccination site in the county that saw one of the worst outbreaks of the coronavirus in 2020—and numbers are creeping back up again, though nothing compared to what Rocklanders experienced last April.

“Some areas of the county have less than a four percent vaccination rate. This is a game changer and it’s been a true partnership between state and county,” said Day. The County Executive also stated that Hi-Tor buses will be able to transport any resident to the site at no charge. Day acknowledged the challenge of establishing that transportation infrastructure, but said no one will have to travel outside the county to get the vaccine now that RCC is open and available.

On Monday Governor Cuomo announced that a total of 10,362,737 doses of the vaccine have been administered in the empire state and that 33 percent of New Yorkers have now received at least one dose of the vaccine.