Jordan Harris ’21 received the Pfizer vaccine at the clinic at Northwood School on Thursday, April 15.
Just nine days after New York State opened the vaccine to high school students ages 16 and 17 and only three days after school opened following spring break, Northwood School hosted a coronavirus vaccination clinic on Thursday, April 15 for students, faculty, Northwood families.
The clinic is believed to be the first school-based clinic for high school students in the North Country and maybe all of New York State. The indoor turf field was temporarily transformed into a vaccine clinic thirteen months after the school sent students home at the start of the pandemic.
The clinic, operated in conjunction with Adirondack Health, vaccinated every student currently at Northwood who wanted and is eligible for the vaccine. Thirty-one students and twenty-six community members were vaccinated.
Not every student who wanted to be vaccinated could get the shot this week. Two athletic teams are away this week traveling for games. The school is currently making arrangements to bring the late-returning students to a state-run clinic that uses the Pfizer vaccine. The closest such clinic are in Plattsburgh or Potsdam.
Students getting vaccinated at Northwood this spring will be fully vaccinated before graduation and summer break, which everyone agrees is a great start to helping life at school return to “pre-pandemic normal”.
Assistant Head for School Life Mr. John Spear announced the clinic in a letter to the community on Tuesday morning:
