SYRACUSE, N.Y. (WSYR-TV) — Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon says based on the latest CDC guidance, the county is revising its guidance to local school districts for bringing students back into the classroom.

Based on the CDC’s announcement late last week, McMahon says the county is returning thousands of Plexiglas partitions destined for Onondaga County classrooms. McMahon says the county is returning items purchased from national vendors but will utilize those purchased from local companies in cafeterias and other situations where they can be beneficial.

Under 50 and want a vaccine?

Earlier Monday, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced the state would allow people 50 and older to receive the COVID-19 vaccines. At his news briefing, McMahon said the county would create a waiting list for people between the ages of 40 and 50 for the vaccine.

If the county has vaccine doses available, and no one in the eligible groups to receive the vaccine before it expires, people on the waiting list for 40-50 year-olds would be called to get a shot. You can sign up for that list here.

The people who signed up for the 50-60 year-old waiting list last week were contacted today to set up appointments for the expanded eligibility lists.

“Let me vaccinate the kids”

When asked about large non-socially distanced celebrations by Syracuse University students Sunday after its basketball team defeated West Virginia and advanced the NCAA’s Sweet 16, McMahon says “Yeah, well, I mean let me vaccinate the kids. That probably would be the best way to handle the situation, don’t you think?”

McMahon pointed to data that shows 76% of Onondaga County’s positive cases come from people between the ages of 18 and 40.

He says he would love the state to return local control to counties to manage the crisis because then the county would be able to micro-target the communities at greatest risk of transmitting the virus. he says we can do that no that most of the county’s most vulnerable have received or are about to receive the vaccine.

McMahon asked if anyone was surprised that after a big SU win that large numbers of students celebrated? He says the best way to limit that risk is to get people vaccinated.

He contends that if given the go ahead and the vaccine, the county would get it done.

Watch McMahon’s briefing below: