Information for employees about COVID-19 vaccinations

As the availability of COVID-19 vaccines expands in our region and nationally, the University encourages faculty, staff, and their family members to seriously consider obtaining a vaccine as soon as they are eligible.

While the University is currently not able to provide vaccines directly to employees, there are several options available for obtaining a vaccine if you meet state eligibility requirements, including your local health department and some pharmacies and health care systems.

In Ohio, vaccines are being made available in phases by priority groups. It is important to schedule a vaccine when first made available for a group in which you qualify. If you fail to schedule a vaccine during that time period, you may end up waiting longer to be eligible for a vaccine. Priority groups can be found here: https://coronavirus.ohio.gov/static/vaccine/general_fact_sheet.pdf.

The Ohio Department of Health has published a vaccine provider locator map https://vaccine.coronavirus.ohio.gov/ to assist Ohioans in locating vaccine providers in their region.  Vaccine providers can be found by clicking on each county of the map. To schedule a vaccine, locate and call the appropriate provider in your area.

For those located outside Ohio, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) COVID-19 resource web page https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/index.html includes a “How Do I Get A Vaccine?” resource that provides links to resources by state.

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield’s COVID-19 Resource Center site https://www.anthem.com/coronavirus/ provides additional information regarding COVID-19 vaccines, symptoms, and care and resource tools.

There is no cost for any eligible individual to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, whether or not they have insurance.

“COVID-19 vaccines provide excellent personal protection against the virus, but the importance of vaccination is bigger than that,” said Dr. Gillian Ice, special assistant to the president for public health operations at Ohio University. “Beyond personal protection, vaccines are a critical tool to halting the transmission of the virus within the community, which is what will eventually get our lives back to normal. When we have enough people vaccinated, COVID-19 simply won’t have a means of spreading. Until then, we will need to continue the basic public health measures of masks, social distancing, testing and isolation of infected individuals. Vaccination offers a path to moving past this pandemic.”

If you have additional questions, contact your local health department.