Talk about the vaccine arriving to Saint Anselm College has been swirling on campus, but the vaccine might not be arriving any time soon. According to the COVID-19 support page on Canvas, the college may be getting the vaccine around March. But amid some road bumps in New Hampshire’s vaccine rollout, the likelihood seems slim.
“I think I’d be surprised if [the vaccine arrives] in March,” said President Favazza. “I would say it’s more likely April or May than March, but we just don’t know. There’s so many unknowns with the vaccine rollout.”
The estimated timeframe of New Hampshire’s vaccine distribution plan is heavily dependent on vaccine doses that are allocated from the federal government and how many people are vaccinated.
The state of New Hampshire is currently in Phase 1B of it’s vaccine distribution plan, which includes residents 65 and older and medically vulnerable residents under 65. Phase 2B includes residents aged between 50 and 64 and those living in congregate living settings. The college has been designated as one of those living settings.
“The state of New Hampshire has told us that we would be a point of distribution, but we would be a private point of distribution which means that we would only give the vaccine to our staff, faculty, and students.” explains Favazza.
All students will receive the vaccine when it becomes available to the college, including those living off-campus and commuter students said Favazza.
But while it is unclear when the vaccine will arrive on campus to vaccinate the Saint Anselm Community, the college wants to make clear that anyone who can get the vaccine, should get it. For example, nursing students, the monks living in the monastery, and Director of Health Services Maura Marshall have all been vaccinated.
“I encourage everyone to get the vaccine whenever they can get it,” said Favazza. “The more that we have folks on campus with [the vaccine], it’s just gonna make sense that our numbers are going to go down,”
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