14 THE QUEENS COURIER • JUNE 24, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
MetroPlusHealth teams up with Elmhurst Hospital
to host COVID-19 vaccination event for local teens
BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
editorial@qns.com
@QNS
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 to
visitors.
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,
Helen Arteaga Landaverde, CEO of NYC Health + Hospitals/Elmhurst (fourth from r.) poses with health care heroes at the MetroTeen COVID-19 vaccination
event.
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
Photos by Gabriele Holtermann
“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.”
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 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
— Dr. Talya Schwartz
vaccinated,” she said.
Anthony Lema, 16, decided to get
vaccinated because New 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:
Brian Kang, 15, receives his fi rst dose of the Pfi zer COVID-19 vaccine. “It’s easier than getting a fl u shot.”
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