SLU Acquires Small Amount of COVID-19 Vaccine
March 2, 2021
PLEASE READ THIS EMAIL CAREFULLY.
The following message contains important information for those eligible to receive the vaccine based on the state’s vaccine priority populations plan.
Dear SLU community members,
SLU has received 100 doses of vaccine from the state.
We will operate a small vaccine clinic at the Simon Recreation Center on Friday, March 5, by appointment only. As there are so few doses to administer, we will send information later today to a targeted group of faculty, staff and students who are prioritized under the state’s current guidelines.
We are grateful to state public health officials for approving our request for vaccine doses.
These first doses will be given only to University community members in strict accordance with the state’s vaccine priority populations plan. Violation of the state’s directive could jeopardize our ability to get more vaccine doses in the weeks to come, making this controlled process all the more critical.
We will be using the Moderna vaccine, which was clinically tested at SLU’s Center for Vaccine Development last year. At Friday’s clinic we will schedule the second dose for those who obtain their first at our clinic. The second vaccine is administered 28 days after the first.
COVID-19 vaccinations are not required of our faculty, staff and students at this time. But science shows that broad vaccine participation can help us return to the long-awaited sense of normalcy that comes with spending time with those we love.
We will contact the first round of qualified faculty, staff and students tonight.
Tonight we will send registration information to a targeted group of patient-facing University community members in the top tiers of the state’s priority plan who have not yet been vaccinated by our SSM partners or by their clinical-experience site.
We wish we could accommodate all qualified University community members for appointments. Again, the success of our first vaccine clinic will better ensure a steady supply of vaccine doses.
Future vaccine clinics
The next round of qualified faculty, staff and students will be contacted as soon as we obtain additional vaccine doses.
Other faculty, staff and students who qualify to be vaccinated and who are unable to be scheduled in this first round of vaccinations will be prioritized for future vaccine clinics. We will schedule such clinics when we have additional vaccine in hand.
We intend to create an on-call list for those who can arrive quickly on campus to replace missed appointments.
As we look to hosting additional vaccine clinics, we will expand the number of vaccine-eligible University community members who can register to get vaccinated. We plan to offer a special clinic for our housekeeping, groundskeeping and maintenance staff who are aged 65 or older, or high-risk individuals as outlined by thestate’s Phase 1B, Tier 2 requirements.
News of increased shipments of the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines –– and recent authorization of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine –– should improve vaccine availability throughout the state, and hopefully here at SLU.
We can organize a vaccine clinic within three days of the arrival of vaccine to our campus. Please watch your email for more information.
Stay safe and be well.
Terri Rebmann, Ph.D., RN, CIC, FAPIC
Special Assistant to the President
Director, Institute for Biosecurity
Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
College for Public Health and Social Justice
Rachel Charney, M.D.
Director, SLU Contact Tracing
Director of Disaster Preparedness, SLUCare
Professor, Pediatric Emergency Medicine
School of Medicine
Deborah Horton, RN, M.S.N., M.P.H., PHNA-BC
Assistant Professor
School of Nursing
Renee Jonas, M.A.
Director, Student Health Center