School and college graduations will proceed this year, though with limits on attendance, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said Monday. In addition, the state is moving toward vaccinating more students, allocating 35,000 vaccines for college students at both SUNY and private schools.
This batch will include 21,000 vaccines to be administered to SUNY students and 14,000 vaccines for private colleges. The vaccines will be administered to residential and non-commuter students who are leaving for the summer.
Effective May 1, indoor and outdoor graduation and commencement ceremonies will be allowed with limited capacity, depending on the event size and the location. Organizers and venues hosting ceremonies must follow state health and safety protocols, including requiring face masks, social distancing, health screenings and collection of contact tracing information. Detailed guidance for graduation events is available here.
“We’re once again approaching the end of the academic year which means we need strict rules in place to ensure commencement ceremonies are done safely in the context of the ongoing pandemic,” Cuomo said. “With more people getting vaccinated every day, we are so close to the light at the end of the tunnel, but we all need to continue being vigilant and I am urging everyone to celebrate smart.”
For events exceeding the limits of 100 people indoors or 200 people outdoors, event organizers and venues must notify the local health department and require attendees to show proof of a recent negative test result or proof of completed immunization before admittance
Cuomo spoke Monday at a livestreamed event at Suffolk County Community College in Brentwood.
Outdoor Events:
- Large-scale ceremonies of over 500 people at outdoor venues will be limited to 20 percent of capacity, applicable to venues with a total capacity of 2,500 or more.
- Medium-scale ceremonies of 201-500 people at outdoor venues will be limited to 33 percent of capacity.
- Small-scale ceremonies of up to 200 people or 2 attendees per student at outdoor venues will be limited to 50 percent of capacity. Proof of recent negative test result or proof of completed immunization is optional.
Indoor Events:
- Large-scale ceremonies of over 150 people at indoor venues will be limited to 10 percent of capacity, applicable to venues with a total capacity of 1,500 or more.
- Medium-scale ceremonies of 101-150 people at indoor venues will be limited to 33 percent of capacity.
- Small-scale ceremonies of up to 100 people or 2 attendees per student at indoor venues will be limited to 50 percent of capacity. Proof of recent negative test result or proof of completed immunization is optional.
In other Covid-19 news, one in four New Yorkers are now fully vaccinated for COVID-19 while more than 12 million doses of the vaccine have been administered in the state.
STATEWIDE BREAKDOWN
Total doses administered – 12,033,813
Total doses administered over past 24 hours – 174,822
Total doses administered over past 7 days – 1,553,658
Percent of New Yorkers with at least one vaccine dose – 37.90%
Percent of New Yorkers with completed vaccine series – 24.90%
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Deaths by County of Residence |
|
|
County |
New Deaths |
|
Albany |
1 |
|
Bronx |
4 |
|
Chautauqua |
1 |
|
Clinton |
1 |
|
Erie |
4 |
|
Kings |
19 |
|
Manhattan |
1 |
|
Monroe |
4 |
|
Nassau |
3 |
|
Orange |
1 |
|
Queens |
10 |
|
Richmond |
2 |
|
Schenectady |
1 |
|
Suffolk |
3 |
|
Westchester |
3 |