Jamestown Community College

This coincides with the recent announcement from the State University of New York Chancellor John B. King and with the official declaration of the end of the national public health emergency by President Biden’s administration.

The change in guidelines will formally take effect with the beginning of Summer 2023 classes.

Students enrolled in any program or course, or who participate in a clinical or internship held at a third-party location, must continue to comply with all health and safety guidelines, including any vaccination or testing protocols that are in place at the third-party location.

For more information, go to sunyjcc.edu/covid19.

Face masks

The state Department of Health announced Friday that the mask mandate would expire Sunday, February 12. Health care facilities will be able to craft their own masking rules based on CDC guidance that takes local case counts, COVID transmission levels, and open hospital beds into account.

The CDC dropped its mask requirement for health care facilities last fall.

The latest from the DOH does not affect any facility requirements unrelated to COVID-19, including those in place for Influenza.

WRFA contacted UPMC Chautauqua and The Chautauqua Center on whether their mask requirements have changed.

Only TCC responded, stating they are not changing their masking policy. Masks are still required at TCC, Chautauqua PT & OT, and Tri-County Family Medicine until further review and notice.

Bivalent COVID-19 Vaccine Booster

Masks are now optional on public transit, public shelters, and correctional facilities in New York State.

Governor Kathy Hochul announced masking requirements will remain in effect at state-regulated health care facilities, adult care facilities, and clinical settings.

She said the state will continue following COVID-19 data and will adjust policies as needed.

Hochul also announced that the new bivalent COVID-19 vaccine boosters are now available in New York State. These boosters are designed to add Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 variants and bolster previous vaccination protection. The announcement follows the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention‘s recommendation to use updated COVID-19 boosters from Pfizer-BioNTech for anyone age 12 or older and from Moderna for those 18 or older.

To be eligible to receive the updated booster, individuals must have completed their original vaccine series or received a booster at least two months before.

New Yorkers should contact their regular health care provider, local pharmacy, or local county health department about getting the booster. New Yorkers can also visit vaccines.gov, text their ZIP code to 438829, or call 1-800-232-0233 to find nearby vaccination locations.

Hochul said in the coming weeks, the CDC is expected to announce updated COVID-19 boosters for younger pediatric groups. Until then, the monovalent mRNA Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine remains authorized for use as boosters in children ages 5 through 11 and for all primary series vaccinations.

According to the New York State COVID-19 Testing Tracker, Chautauqua County’s seven-day average positivity rate is 12.5%. The CDC Community Level is now at medium. At this level, the CDC recommends wearing a mask if you have symptoms of COVID-19, a positive test, or exposure to someone with COVID. They also recommend wearing a mask on public transportation.

Jamestown Community College

The college says a booster is strongly encouraged but not required. Students taking online coursework only, who have no plans to participate in any on-campus activities or interactions, are not required to receive the COVID-19 vaccination.

Students who have received two doses of Pfizer or Moderna, or a single dose of Janssen vaccine, are considered to have met the SUNY vaccine requirements, and will have no COVID-related restrictions. Vaccination records must be provided two weeks prior to arriving on campus for any reason.

Students with an approved religious or medical exemption will be required to sign documentation agreeing to periodic testing. Testing schedules will be determined and communicated by the campus Health Centers for the 2022-23 academic year.

JCC returned to in-person operations in the fall of 2021. Due to consistently low infection rates, restrictions were slowly released. More information on current protocols is available at sunyjcc.edu/COVID19.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends COVID-19 vaccines (Moderna or Pfizer) for everyone 6 months and older. The CDC said the benefit of COVID-19 vaccines, like other vaccines, is that those vaccinated get protection without risking the potentially serious consequences of getting sick with COVID-19. Vaccinating children can also help relieve the strain on families by providing greater confidence in children participating in childcare, school, and other activities, as well as minimizing the spread of COVID-19 to older or immunocompromised loved ones.

The Chautauqua County Health Department clinics will offer Moderna vaccine for all age groups. Moderna is a two-shot series with the second dose occurring 4 weeks after the first dose.

The clinics will be held at Jamestown Community College’s Carnahan Building from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. on July 13 and August 10; and at SUNY Fredonia’s Steele Hall from 3:00 to 6:00 p.m. on July 14 and August 11.

Pre-registration is required for the clinics. The registration link can be found here: https://bit.ly/CHQCOVIDVax. People may also register by calling 1-866-604-6789 between 8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Monday through Friday.

Parent or legal guardian consent is required for the vaccination of minors. If a parent or guardian is unable to accompany their child, they can designate another adult to consent on their behalf in writing, which must include the name and date of birth of the child, the name and signature of the parent or guardian, and the name of designee. Photo identification and masks will be required.

COVID-19 Vaccines are also available at the Health Department’s Mayville office by appointment, and parents may also contact their pediatrician, family health care provider, or pharmacist to inquire about the vaccine. A list of pharmacies that provide the vaccine to this population will be maintained on the County website, chqgov.com.

While the CDC Community Transmission level is still considered low, according to the County Health Department the average positivity rate rose from 4.3% on June 22, to 6% June 29th, to a current rate of 8.9% as of July 6.

And while wastewater analysis data shows high levels of COVID in both Dunkirk and the Jamestown-Falconer area, data is not available for the last two weeks.

60% of the population is now fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in Chautauqua County with 66.6% having at least one dose and 54.5% being fully vaccinated with a booster dose.

These case reports do not include any positive at-home testing results.

The Chautauqua County Health Department reported 10 people in the hospital due to COVID on May 18. That’s down one person from last week. However, the seven day average positivity rate is up 3% from last week to 14.7%.

According to the State’s COVID-19 monitoring, 302 people have died in Chautauqua County since the beginning of the pandemic.

The CDC Community Level is now considered moderate.

Wastewater monitoring for COVID-19 in Dunkirk, Jamestown, and Falconer show levels are low.

The Centers for Disease Control reports that 66.2% of the population in Chautauqua County has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine while 59.6% are fully vaccinated.

And the Federal Government is now offering an additional 8 free COVID-19 tests per U.S. household.

You can order the free at-home COVID tests at: https://www.covid.gov/tests.

The tests are being shipped by the U.S. Postal Service.

The Chautauqua County Health Department reported 11 people in the hospital due to COVID on May 11th. That’s up 3 people from last week. The seven day average positivity rate is up 2% from last week to 11.7%.

According to the New York State COVID-19 Dashboard, there were 351 confirmed cases of COVID-19 for the week of May 1 though 7. This is a nearly 75% increase in the amount of cases from the previous week.

These cases do not include any positive at-home testing results.

According to the State’s COVID-19 monitoring, 302 people have died in Chautauqua County since the beginning of the pandemic.

The CDC Community Level is still considerered low.

Wastewater monitoring for COVID-19 in Dunkirk show levels are low and increasing. Wasterwater monitoring for Jamestown and Falconer show levels are moderate and increasing.

The Centers for Disease Control reports that 66.2% of the population in Chautauqua County has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine while 59.5% are fully vaccinated.

George Borrello

State Senator George Borrello has introduced a bill to refund tuition to SUNY and CUNY students who had to leave school due to not being vaccinated against COVID-19.

Borrello said SUNY gave students 35 days to get vaccinated or file for an exemption, “So in 35 days, it basically blindsided these students. They had to make a decision. And about 1,500 of them were kicked out of school. And now, here’s the part that the law deals with, SUNY kept their money. They said, ‘You paid for your tuition and we’re not giving you your money back even though we kicked you out of school.’ So, my bill is pretty simple – give them their money back.”

Borrello said other private schools gave several months for students to comply a vaccination requirement. He added there is a companion bill on the issue in the State Assembly as well.

The FDA’s decision opens a fourth dose of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines to that age group at least four months after their previous booster.

Until now, the FDA had cleared fourth doses only for people 12 and older who have severely weakened immune systems. The agency said this especially fragile group also can get an additional booster, a fifth shot.

The latest expansion, regardless of people’s health, allows an extra shot to millions more Americans. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is expected to weigh in.

The move comes at a time of great uncertainty. COVID-19 cases have dropped to low levels after the winter surge of the super-contagious omicron variant. CDC data shows that two vaccine doses plus a booster still provide strong protection against severe disease and death.

But an omicron sibling is causing a worrisome jump in infections in Europe, and spreading in the U.S., even as vaccination has stalled. About two-thirds of Americans are fully vaccinated, and half of those eligible for a first booster haven’t gotten one.

Pfizer had asked the FDA to clear a fourth shot for people 65 and older, while Moderna requested another dose for all adults “to provide flexibility” for the government to decide who really needs one.

The FDA set age 50 as the threshold for both companies. As for the immune-compromised, only the Pfizer vaccine can be used in those as young as 12; Moderna’s is for adults.

There’s limited evidence to tell how much benefit another booster could offer right now. FDA made the decision without input from its independent panel of experts that has wrestled with how much data is required to expand shots.

The newest booster expansion may not be the last: Next week, the government will hold a public meeting to debate if everyone eventually needs a fourth dose, possibly in the fall, of the original vaccine or an updated shot.