COVID-19 vaccine now available for 12- to 15-year-olds
Following this week’s decision by the Centers for Disease Control and Food and Drug Administration to authorize use of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine in adolescents 12 to 15 years old, the School of Medicine is now making it available to dependents of university faculty, staff, trainees and students.
Appointments are now being scheduled for a vaccine clinic to be held tomorrow (Friday, May 14), from 8:30 a.m. – 2 p.m. at the BJC Institute of Health on the Medical Campus. You can pre-registerdependents 12 years old and older using your WUSTL Key. You also can make an appointment online at one of the WashU Med/BJC community clinics. A legal guardian is required to be present for anyone under the age of 18.
For questions regarding the vaccine clinic, email covidvaccine@wustl.edu. If you have concerns about the vaccine, please speak to your child’s pediatrician.
Click here to learn more about WashU Employee, Student & Dependents Vaccination
Masks still required
Although the CDC has issued updated guidelines allowing fully vaccinated individuals to stop wearing a mask or distancing in many settings, this does not apply to our work/school setting at Washington University. Here’s why:
- Not every employee or student is vaccinated and not everyone’s vaccination status is known.
- Some in our community are significantly immune-compromised or otherwise at increased risk for severe COVID illness leaving them at risk while there is still significant community spread of COVID in St. Louis.
- No vaccine is 100 percent effective. While the COVID-19 vaccines provide very strong protection against serious illness, hospitalization and death, even vaccinated individuals can get COVID-19. We have seen this in both our student and employee populations.
The COVID Monitoring Team continues to closely monitor case numbers and vaccination rates locally to guide decision-making and will reevaluate its recommendations as needed.
Volunteers needed at vaccine clinics
We are still in need of clinical and non-clinical volunteers to staff our vaccine clinics. Faculty, staff and students are encouraged to sign up by filling out the clinic volunteer form online. You do not need to have clinical experience to volunteer as we are also in need of administrative support.
Shifts are available at multiple locations, but vaccination of WashU faculty, staff, students and families is occuring in the BJC Institute of Health on the Medical Campus. To sign up to help at the Medical Campus location, select “IOH (Employee site at Medical School)” in the Preferred Vaccine Clinic Location section of the form. You also will be asked if you have access to Epic, the electronic medical records system. (Epic knowledge is not needed at the IOH site.) Just click “no” if you are not familiar with Epic. Thank you for your help!
Surveillance testing program concluding
As the spring semester comes to a close, the COVID-19 surveillance testing program for undergraduate students is also ending. The last day for required testing will be tomorrow, Friday, May 14.
Optional, walk-in student testing will be available May 17-19 from 8 a.m.–3:50 p.m. for students who wish to get tested ahead of Commencement, any upcoming travels, or as a final asymptomatic test. This testing is available in the Mudd Tent field without an appointment.
There will not be surveillance testing conducted this summer. The university will continue to provide testing to students, faculty and staff who report symptoms of COVID-19 or have had positive exposures. Students who believe that they might have COVID-19 should call Habif Health and Wellness Center at 314-935-4959 or the COVID Call Center at 314-362-5056. Employees should call the COVID Call Center or their personal physician for guidance. Do not come to campus if you have symptoms of COVID-19.
New hours for COVID-19 testing on Medical Campus
COVID-19 testing for asymptomatic members of the university community continues to be available at the 1234 S. Kingshighway Blvd. site. This testing is available to students, faculty, staff and family members at a cost of $50 per test. (Students, faculty and staff who are experiencing symptoms of COVID-19 are eligible for free diagnostic testing and should contact the COVID Call Center at 314-362-5056 for guidance.)
The Kingshighway site has implemented new hours for asymptomatic testing, which is now available Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., with the last appointment available at 2:30 p.m.
To learn more and schedule a test, visit the Saliva Test information page on the School of Medicine’s COVID-19 website.
‘We are grateful’
The Gratitude Project is a video series hosted by Tim Bono, assistant dean in Student Affairs, that highlights stories of how WashU alumni, faculty, staff and students are rising up for the greater good. In this episode, the fourth installment, look for the great work of an Olin alum who started Rem and Company to help small business survive the pandemic; the mindfulness work being done by Diana Parra of the Prevention Research Center; and the amazing performances of our students who didn’t let the pandemic stop them.
The show did go on
Each week of this semester seemed to bring more examples of how campus life rolled with the changes during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moments like this one on April 9, when an audience enjoyed the Performing Arts Department performance of “The Covid Mysteries” from a mobile stage as the sun set over Mudd Field. The Record recorded many of these types of moments in its weekly feature “The View From Here.” (Photo: Whitney Curtis/Washington University)