By Carol Tannenhauser
After a successful launch last weekend, Columbia University is hosting a second pop-up vaccination site this Saturday and Sunday, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at The Forum on its Manhattanville campus, located at 625 W. 125th Street, between Broadway and Riverside Drive. This time, the Pfizer vaccine will be given. All those 16 and older are eligible, but minors must be accompanied by a parent/guardian.
The clinic fills the need for a large vaccination site for neighborhoods just north of the Upper West Side: Morningside Heights, Manhattanville, West Harlem, and Hamilton Heights, according to a spokesperson for State Assembly Member Daniel O’Donnell, who represents the Upper West Side, Morningside Heights, and Manhattan Valley. O’Donnell played a major role in coordinating the pop-up site, recommending Columbia because of its large number of ADA compliant spaces on campus. Columbia’s effect on the surrounding community has sometimes been criticized — the Manhattanville campus was even protested because of fears it would contribute to gentrification and displacement — so the vaccine site allows for a more positive connection.
“Community-based sites are highly effective in distributing vaccines to New Yorkers,” said O’Donnell. “To beat back this virus, we need to make appointments as easy and accessible as possible.”
This phone number doesn’t work, every time I have tried. Do I need an appointment to get a shot at the pop-up site?
You can walk in this morning–10 am to 2 pm.
This is a great way to get vaccinations out there. How will the second doses be handled? Will it be back in three weeks?
Yes. They will be back for second doses.
I’m glad to see Columbia helping with vaccination of the neighborhood/city. Though they have largely failed their own affiliates by not offering any vaccine, until last week, for people who have been working at the university day in and day out since last June. All I’ve gotten in the emails in months is just Columbia patting themselves on the back about how they’ve vaccinated this number of people, without giving the majority of their own people any idea how and when to get the shots.