ITHACA, NY – Last week, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced that New York State will aim to launch the nation’s first state public health corps. The body’s main objective will be to boost and expand the state’s efforts to distribute the vaccine to the maximum of its more than 19 million inhabitants, and Cornell University will be an integral part of the initiative.
The school, in partnership with the Northwell Health System, will attempt to develop 1,000 public health fellows with the specific goal of “(supporting) the distribution and reach of the COVID-19 vaccine and improving long-term public health outcomes across the state. . ” The Master’s program in Public Health and the university’s Faculty of Veterinary Medicine will also be heavily involved in the process.
“We are honored to partner with Governor Cuomo and New York State to create the new Corps of Public Health,” said Martha Pollack, the school’s president. “As a leading research university, Cornell hopes to train those who will do the critical work of ensuring fair and effective distribution of the vaccine to the people of New York. “
YOUR LOCAL HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES NEWS ARE POSSIBLE WITH THE SUPPORT OF:
The program will consist of a series of online courses that can be taken, which are already under development by eCornell.
Education will be another crucial aspect of the effort, especially in terms of ensuring that the public trusts the vaccine – which can be an uphill battle. There remain about 40 percent of people in the country who do not trust the coronavirus vaccine for a number of reasons, according to Cornell.
“We know that some people are hesitant to get vaccines and we know that some populations – because of their jobs, or where they live, or that they are exposed to in the environment – are more susceptible to negative effects if they receive COVID,” said Dr. Alexander Travis, director of the MPH program and professor of reproductive biology at the Baker Institute for Animal Health, CVM. “Public health fellows will be trained to identify communities with special needs and help give people the information they need to make good choices about how to get the vaccine.”