Friday, April 2, 2021

Vaccine update: Complete your COVID-19 vaccination survey

Students

With vaccine eligibility expanding and supply expected to increase, Student Health is preparing to vaccinate students. To schedule a vaccination, you must first complete a COVID-19 immunization survey. Completion of this survey is required prior to receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

We urge you to complete the survey as soon as you can. Once you do, you will receive additional information about how to schedule your vaccination and where to go. Please do not call or walk into Student Health to be vaccinated without an appointment.

While we expect to have increased vaccine availability over the coming weeks, it will take time to get everyone scheduled for vaccination. The number of vaccines we can give is dependent on the number of doses we receive from the state and county. If you can be vaccinated sooner at an approved location, such as a local pharmacy, we encourage you to do so.

The vaccine will be provided free of charge no matter where you are vaccinated.

UI Health Care has provided a comprehensive FAQ about COVID-19 vaccine safety, which we encourage you to review.

The good news is there is strong interest in the vaccine, which will benefit our community as a whole. In the meantime, we can continue to protect ourselves by wearing a mask, maintaining physical distance from others, washing our hands frequently, and avoiding indoor gatherings with others outside of our household. Thank you for your patience and support. We are all in this together.

Faculty/staff

With vaccine eligibility expanding and supply expected to increase, the University Employee Health Clinic is preparing to vaccinate UI faculty and staff. To schedule a vaccination, you must first complete a COVID-19 immunization survey in your ReadySet employee health record. Completion of this survey is required prior to receiving the COVID-19 vaccine, just like with the annual employee flu vaccination campaign.

We urge you to complete the survey as soon as you can. Once you do, you will receive additional information about how to schedule your vaccination, where to go, and where to park. Please do not call or walk into a UI Health Care clinic to be vaccinated without an appointment.

UI Health Care has provided several helpful resources to help answer your questions, including:

If you need assistance accessing or completing the ReadySet survey, please speak with your HR representative.

While we expect to have increased vaccine availability over the coming weeks, it will take time to get everyone scheduled for vaccination. The number of vaccines we can give is dependent on the number of doses we receive from the state and county. If you can be vaccinated sooner at an approved location, such as a local pharmacy, we encourage you to do so.

The vaccine will be provided free of charge no matter where you are vaccinated.

The good news is there is strong interest in the vaccine, which will benefit our community as a whole. In the meantime, we can continue to protect ourselves by wearing a mask, maintaining physical distance from others, washing our hands frequently, and avoiding indoor gatherings with others outside of our household. Thank you for your patience and support. We are all in this together.

Fall 2021 semester update

The University of Iowa is looking forward to returning to an on-campus, face-to-face residential experience in fall 2021 and is working to provide as much information as possible about the fall 2021 semester to current and future students, families, faculty, and staff.

In order to accomplish this return to a robust student experience, the UI will continue to rely on guidance from the Board of Regents, State of Iowa; the Iowa and Johnson County departments of public health (IDPH, JCPH); the Big Ten Conference; and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regarding the wearing of masks, social distancing, and other best practices. As such, the information provided in this message may change before the fall 2021 semester.

UI Hospitals & Clinics (UIHC) employees should continue to refer to UIHC regarding operations in health care facilities.

An outline of what to expect is below. To read all the details, visit the Fall 2021 page on the UI Coronavirus website.

Campus life

The university will return to offering a robust student experience typical of a Big Ten public research university, including moving into the residence halls, the OnIowa! Week of Welcome, primarily face-to-face instruction (excluding most classes with enrollments of more than 150 students), face-to-face student organization and club meetings, Big Ten athletics, and programs and performances at Voxman Music Building, Hancher Auditorium, and other campus venues. In-person dining options will be available in the dining halls, as will dining express service.

Protection for populations with vulnerability

The UI will return to pre-COVID-19 evaluation processes for people with concerns about a medical vulnerability. Students, faculty, and staff are encouraged to speak with their health care provider and self-identify if they have concerns regarding a medical vulnerability. Faculty and staff can contact their local Human Resources representative and students can contact Student Disability Services.

Academics and the classroom

Starting with the fall 2021 semester, the university will return to face-to-face instruction.

While the prevalence of COVID-19 likely will be diminished, the UI will continue to take steps to reduce the risk of exposure to COVID-19 for our students, faculty, staff, and community, including:

  • The university will only hold classes in spaces that meet CDC COVID-19 ventilation recommendations for risk reduction.
  • University classrooms will continue to utilize additional cameras and audiovisual equipment to enhance the educational experience and support virtual learning, if needed.
  • Physical barriers, such as plexiglass panels between students (and between students and instructors), may be utilized as desired and available.
  • While university meetings may take place face-to-face, the university is prioritizing all spaces for instruction. To accomplish that goal, meeting conveners should continue to avoid conflicts in scheduling.

The employee experience

As the university shifts its planning to return to face-to-face instruction, the UI will re-establish an on-campus presence for most work functions. For most employees, this will mean a return to an on-campus position. Deans and vice presidents will manage work arrangements at the org and unit levels based on campus guidelines.

The following programs will be developed to support employees, supervisors, and leaders:

  • Welcome Back to Campus: This program will provide information about fall semester expectations for our community members, strategies to manage the transition, etc.
  • Mental Health Support: Mental health services will be delivered either in person or virtually in order to better serve the employees on campus and off.
  • Family Services: Child care resources, guidance, and programs are available to employees and students.

Face coverings, social distancing, and vaccines

In order to accomplish this return to an in-person student experience, the UI will continue to rely on guidance from the Board of Regents, State of Iowa; the Iowa and Johnson County departments of public health (IDPH, JCPH); the Big Ten Conference; and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) regarding face masks, social distancing, and other health and safety measures.

To date, neither federal nor Iowa state law requires employers or institutions of higher education to mandate COVID-19 vaccinations. The university monitors public health guidance regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. Consistent with that guidance, the university urges everyone who is eligible to receive a vaccine when it is available to them, in consultation with their health care provider and through established protocols and recommendations of their health care provider.

Testing and contact tracing

The UI will continue to test symptomatic individuals and asymptomatic individuals with a known COVID-19 exposure in coordination with JCPH, and will coordinate with JCPH on a unified response for contact tracing and disease investigation for UI community members.

The university will continue to follow CDC and state and county public health guidelines regarding isolation and quarantine. The UI also will continue to provide isolation space for students diagnosed with COVID-19 who live in residence halls, and space to quarantine close contacts as defined by JCPH.

Self-reporting expectations will continue in alignment with JCPH contact tracing.

Cleaning

The UI will continue to follow CDC recommended cleaning procedures. Employees will be responsible for keeping their own personal work areas clean, and students, faculty, and staff will be responsible for practicing recommended hand hygiene before using items that might be shared by others, as well as cleaning items after use. Safety stations, including hand sanitizer, will remain in place for fall 2021.

h2>COVID-19 vaccine update: Johnson County vaccination progress

According to the state’s data, Iowa has administered a total of 1,494,043 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to Iowa residents. About 91,565 doses have been administered to those who reside in Johnson County.

Please keep in mind immunity is not achieved immediately after receiving the vaccine. It also will take time for everyone who wants to be vaccinated to receive the required doses. In the meantime, we can continue to protect ourselves and each other by wearing a mask, maintaining physical distance from others, washing our hands frequently, and avoiding indoor gatherings with others outside our household. More information about the state of Iowa’s vaccine administration is available here.

County Population Two-Dose Series Initiated Two-Dose Series Completed Single-Dose Series Completed % of Johnson County Residents with Two-Dose Series Initiated and Two- and Single-Dose Series Completed % of Johnson County Residents with Two- and Single-Dose Series Completed
Johnson 151,140 20,935 34,733 1,164 37.60% 23.75%

University of Iowa self-reported COVID-19 testing

These data reflect new cases since March 31, 2021.

The University of Iowa has published an updated snapshot of self-reported positive COVID-19 tests from faculty, staff, and students.

Number of self-reported cases of COVID-19

Students

  • New cases: 8
  • Total cases: 3,101

Employees

  • New cases: 0
  • Total cases: 467

These numbers reflect only self-reported positive or presumed positive COVID-19 tests from UI faculty, staff, and students on the academic campus since Aug. 18, 2020. These data will not match data reported by UI Hospitals & Clinics or by the Iowa Department of Public Health for several reasons, including different testing time intervals and geographic scope. Students who also are employees of the university are only reported in the student number to avoid double counting. The UI has more than 30,000 students and nearly 30,000 employees. Many employees continue to work remotely but have self-reported to authorize sick leave.

Number of residence hall students in quarantine: 0*

Number of residence hall students in self-isolation: 2**

*Quarantine: Quarantine is used to keep someone who might have been exposed to COVID-19 away from others.

**Self-isolation: Isolation is used to separate people infected.