HCC to Host COVID-19 Vaccination Clinics Starting Aug. 24

HOLYOKE — Starting Tuesday, Aug. 24, Holyoke Community College (HCC) will host weekly COVID-19 vaccination clinics on its Homestead Avenue campus.

The clinics will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. every Tuesday at least through the month of September in parking lot M outside the Bartley Center for Athletics & Recreation, the same location where HCC conducts its COVID-19 testing through the Holyoke Board of Health.

The vaccination clinics will be managed by the healthcare company Curative, which has administered more than 150,000 COVID-19 vaccines in communities throughout Western Mass., according to the company.

The vaccination clinics are open to all HCC students, faculty, and staff as well as residents of Holyoke and surrounding communities. Advance registration is encouraged but not required. Walk-ins are welcome.

At the HCC site, Curative will offer both first and second doses of the Pzifer-BioNTech vaccine, as well as the single-dose Janssen J&J vaccine.

HCC, like all the other community colleges in Massachusetts, is not requiring students, faculty, and staff to be vaccinated before they return to campus for the start of the fall 2021 semester on Sept. 7. HCC does, however, require everyone to wear a mask inside campus buildings regardless of their vaccination status.

“Even though we don’t have a mandate, we strongly encourage everyone to get vaccinated,” said Narayan Sampath, vice president of Administration and Finance. “We want to provide every opportunity we can for people to get tested and vaccinated.”

Free drive-through COVID-19 testing is also available at HCC six days a week in parking lot M. The testing site is open Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 7 to 11 a.m.; and Tuesday and Thursday from 2 to 7 p.m.