MetroPlusHealth teams up with Elmhurst Hospital
for COVID-19 vaccination event for local teenagers
BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
MetroPlusHealth and NYC
Health+Hospitals/Elmhurst
joined forces to host the
MetroTeen COVID-19 vaccination
drive outside Elmhurst’s
Community Medical Center on
Saturday, June 19, encouraging
teenagers to protect themselves
against the COVID-19
virus as the summer break is
just around the corner.
The event, which went
from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., featured
a DJ and a photo station
where teenagers could pose
for a photo-op after receiving
the vaccine. Several organizations,
including Queensboro
FC, handed out swag.
Helen Arteaga Landaverde,
CEO of NYC
Health+Hospitals/Elmhurst,
pointed out that the pandemic
is not over yet, and the
day was dedicated to getting
young people vaccinated and
“to celebrate young life.”
Landaverde said that any
teen over the age of 12 could
get the Pfizer vaccine while
accompanied by an adult, no
appointment necessary. She
also discussed how Elmhurst
Hospital was the “epicenter of
the epicenter” at the height of
the COVID-19 pandemic and
that communities of color suffered
the most losses.
“A year ago, we didn’t
have this, and we’re still trying
to figure out, ‘Is the vaccine
coming?'” Landaverde
said, “But now that we have
the vaccine, we feel like there
is the light at the end of the
tunnel.”
Dr. Talya Schwartz, president
& CEO of MetroPlusHealth,
who attended the event
with her daughters Abby
and Mia, said it was exciting
that New York state had
reached the 70 percent vaccination
milestone and that
MetroPlusHealth and NYC
Health+Hospitals/Elmhurst
were “eager to reach the same
goal for teenagers so they can
back to their lives.”
As a mother to a teenage
daughter, Dr. Schwartz said
she knows firsthand that the
past year had been especially
taxing for young people.
“We’re eager to get them
back to being teens, back to
socializing, without the fear of
getting COVID-19,” she said.
Dr. Schwartz said she understood
if parents were apprehensive
about getting their
Helen Arteaga Landaverde, CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst (fourth from r.) poses with health care heroes at the MetroTeen
COVID-19 vaccination event. Photos by Gabriele Holtermann
teen vaccinated. She also
looked at the data and safety
protocols before her daughter
was inoculated.
“I decided that the benefit
significantly outweighs the
concerns, and here I have a
15-year-old who is fully immunized,”
Dr. Schwartz said.
She also said that it remains
essential to wear
a mask until the vaccine
takes full effect — which is
two weeks after the second
vaccine — especially when indoors.
Dr. Schwartz said the
emergence of the highly
transmissible and more severe
COVID-19 delta variant
should encourage everyone to
get vaccinated.
“The data is showing that,
if you are fully vaccinated,
you are also protected against
the new variant. So, if you
were hesitant, even more
reason to get vaccinated,”
she said.
Anthony Lema, 16, decided
to get vaccinated because New
TIMESLEDGER | Q 10 NS.COM | JUNE 25-JULY 1, 2021
York City will be returning to
in-person learning in September.
His message to young people
is that getting the vaccine
means more freedom.
“It benefits you in a good
way,” Lema said. “I mean,
sometimes you can walk
around without a mask, and
you’re now going to get into
more places because you’re
vaccinated.”
Brian Kang, a 15-year-old
Stuyvesant High School student,
also decided to receive
the vaccine so that he can
spend more time with his
friends and be ready for the
upcoming school year.
He knew that he had to get
it at some point and decided
“that now was the right time.”
He shared that more and
more of his peers are getting
vaccinated because of the
incentive of receiving a scholarship.
Kang’s message to his peers
who are still ambivalent about
getting inoculated: “It’s easier
than getting a flu shot.”
Anthony Lema, 16, poses for a picture after receiving his first dose
of the COVID-19 Pfizer vaccine.
/NS.COM
