Updated Campus COVID-19 Vaccine Information
Dear faculty, staff and students,
The university’s academic health enterprise, UI Health, continues to lead COVID-19 vaccine deployment for our patients and campus community. Now, as we move into the next phase of distribution, this message is to provide an update on our current vaccination efforts and how to access additional information.
We also want to recognize the tremendous commitment from those across the university and health enterprise who have come together to quickly begin vaccine deployment. In addition to the UI Health vaccine team, we are immensely grateful for the student, staff and faculty volunteers from the Colleges of Nursing, Pharmacy, Dentistry and Medicine for their more than 4,000 volunteer hours they have logged to give over 14,000 vaccinations since late December. Thank you for this incredibly important work.
Current Status
Earlier this week, the City of Chicago entered phase 1b of the vaccine rollout which expands eligibility to frontline essential workers and individuals age 65 and over. Individuals from Phase 1a continue to be encouraged to receive vaccination. Please remember, even as you become eligible, it may take some time before you receive a vaccine invitation request. The Chicago Department of Public Health expects that it may take at least through February and March for frontline essential workers and those who are 65+ to get their first dose of vaccine. However, we anticipate being able to offer vaccine to UIC staff 65 and older within the next week. Timing will only be limited by the vaccine we have available to increase appointment availability.
Expanding Distribution at Credit Union 1 Arena
With support from the university, a large-scale vaccination site will open at UIC’s Credit Union 1 Arena on February 1. This location will offer vaccine to those in phase 1b (age 65 and over and other essential front line workers) as we expand efforts to our eligible patients, UIC staff and others within our community.
UI Health vaccination sites will now include:
- Employee Health Vaccine Clinic
Location: College of Pharmacy, Room B8
Available for: UI Health or UIC Employees (phases 1a-1b)
APPOINTMENT REQUIRED
- Credit Union 1 Arena Vaccine Clinic
Location: Credit Union 1 Arena, 525 S. Racine
Available for: UI Health or UIC Employees, UI Health Patients (phases 1a-1b)
APPOINTMENT REQUIRED
Making an Appointment
Vaccination appointments are required. As we move through distribution phases, anyone in the UIC community who qualifies for a vaccination will receive an email invitation to set up an appointment through Epic/MyChart, the patient electronic health record portal used by UI Health. You may choose to accept the invitation to schedule a vaccination appointment as soon as possible, or at any time in the future when you are ready.
For employees who use MyChart, please login to MyChart to ensure you receive prompt communication about making your vaccine appointment. Those employees who need to create a MyChart account should call 844-906-9844 for an activation code to log-in as a new user. If you are unable to schedule through MyChart and belong in Phase 1a or 1b, please go to vaccine.uihealth.care to self-schedule your vaccine appointment.
Be assured that you will only receive an invitation to make an appointment for a vaccine if we are certain that we have ample vaccine available for distribution. We strongly encourage anyone who receives an invitation to schedule an appointment to do so for the health and well-being of our entire community. More information about vaccine appointments, location information or additional FAQs can be found on-line at vaccine.uihealth.care.
The State of Illinois has classified higher education workers in Phase 1c, unless they meet specific age- or job-criteria to be vaccinated in Phase 1a or 1b. Therefore, any remaining UIC faculty and staff not invited during earlier phases will be offered vaccination in 1c.
Campus Vaccine Town Hall
Please mark your calendar and join us for an updated COVID-19 Vaccine Town Hall scheduled for Tuesday, Feb. 2, beginning at 8 a.m. Members of University and Hospital & Clinics leadership and our COVID-19 Vaccine Team look forward to providing you updates on our latest vaccination activity. More information about the COVID-19 Vaccine Town Hall will be shared in the coming days. Please note, if you are unable to join the meeting live, it will be recorded and made available online.
Explore Your Options
As COVID-19 vaccine becomes broadly available across the country, employees and students may also choose to be vaccinated at other locations – including personal providers, county health departments and local pharmacies. Members of the UIC community located at other sites (Peoria, Rockford, Springfield, Quad Cities and Urbana) may receive a vaccine invitation and may choose to schedule a vaccination appointment in Chicago or in their local communities as available. It is required that you receive the second dose of vaccine at the same location where you received your first dose.
Although the COVID-19 vaccines are highly effective, they are not 100% effective and may not protect against asymptomatic transmission. Therefore, everyone must continue to wear a mask, wash/sanitize hands often, and maintain physical distance until there is more broad community immunity from vaccination to prevent transmission. All students and employees who are not in mandatory testing groups are strongly encouraged to schedule regular voluntary saliva testing. Saliva testing combined with vaccination, masking and distancing are all tools to fight this pandemic.
If you have any questions, please send an email to covidvaccine@uic.edu.
Sincerely,
Robert Barish, MD, MBA
Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs
Susan Bleasdale, MD
Acting Chief Quality Officer and Medical Director, Infection Prevention and Control
