Colorado State University employees with specific face-to-face duties are starting to receive emails from the Pandemic Preparedness Team confirming that they are eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines. The employees who receive the email, which includes instructions for obtaining a vaccination, have been identified through multiple sources including Human Resources, the registrar’s office and their unit’s leadership.
An initial email went to faculty and instructors currently teaching face-to-face, including graduate teaching advisors, the week of March 22; eligible staff should expect a message by the end of the month. Eligibility includes students who work in university jobs with significant face-to-face contact with others.
These emails may be taken to vaccine providers as proof of eligibility through Colorado’s Phase 1B.4, although most vaccine providers are not requiring proof of higher education employment or face-to-face contact with others.
“The University is not a primary source of vaccines for faculty, staff and students,” said Lori Lynn, co-chair of the Pandemic Preparedness Team and executive director of the CSU Health Network. CSU’s supply of vaccines is sent to the Health Network, where it is stored and administered to a small number of students, faculty and staff.
“We are receiving only a limited number of vaccines each week and we have not been identified by the county or state as a primary vaccine site for CSU employees and students,” she explained. “Any student, faculty or staff who wants a vaccine is encouraged to check the COVID resources website for information about how to sign up at other locations – and then take the first opportunity that they are provided by one of those providers to get the vaccine.”
Following current guidelines
Both the faculty and staff lists were developed by the Pandemic Preparedness Team using current vaccine eligibility guidelines. Anyone with questions about whether or not they are on the eligibility list should first check with their supervisor.
Student staff who are identified as eligible under Phase 1B.4 should be careful when selecting their vaccine provider because most of the vaccines require two doses four weeks apart, and they must be given at the same location.
“You won’t be able to get a first dose locally and then a second dose in another location if you choose to go home after classes switch to remote delivery after April 9 because of restrictions vaccine providers must follow,” Lynn said.
Instead, Lynn advises that students sign up to receive a vaccination at the location where they’ll be after April 9. Students who are staying in Fort Collins or the surrounding area through the entire semester, including after spring break, could get a vaccine through a Northern Colorado provider.
The Pandemic Preparedness Team is working on a database that will allow students, faculty and staff to voluntarily provide documentation that they have received the vaccine. Information about each individual’s status will be protected, but the system will help the University assess public health measures for the Summer and Fall semesters, and will help in determining specific public health steps to follow if an individual is exposed to the virus.
Key information is updated regularly on the COVID website, including under the vaccine tab. Check the home page under “latest information” for new articles as planning and response measures continue to develop.
