Reminder to Those Who Have Been Vaccinated

Feb. 26, 2021

Dear SLU students, staff and faculty,

We all hope the COVID-19 vaccine will allow us to return to normal. Unfortunately, we are not there yet. 

It feels imperative that we remind you that people who have been vaccinated must abide by all of our public health practices, whether it’s: 

• maintaining six feet of social distancing from others; 
• wearing a face mask; or
• checking your symptoms daily using #CampusCleaR or whatever protocol your unit uses.
• Current city orders require that face masks be worn in public places, regardless of vaccination status. Our interim policy on face masks reflects that mandate. A face shield may be worn in addition to a face mask. But a face shield is not a substitute for a face mask.

Vaccines and Quarantine

 

 As we previously shared, people who are fully vaccinated in the last 90 days are no longer required to be quarantined if they have had close contact with a COVID-19-positive person. “Fully vaccinated” means being two weeks past your second vaccine dose. This change is in line with updated CDC and City Health Department guidance.

 

However, if a fully vaccinated person develops COVID-19 symptoms, they will be required to isolate and be tested for the virus. They also are not excused from any required testing on campus, such as regular asymptomatic testing for students who live on campus.

 The Science Behind the Vaccines

 Research tells us about 5 percent of those vaccinated with the Moderna or Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine will not develop full immunity against the virus.

 

We do not yet know whether a fully vaccinated person can still become infected asymptomatically and spread disease to others. These are some of the reasons why our public health safeguards are so critical, and continued mask use after vaccination is essential.

Vaccine Distribution

 As of today, city and county public health authorities estimate about 12 percent of Missourians have received the first dose of either vaccine, and about 6 percent have received the second.

 

Here on campus, our SSM partners have vaccinated most of our patient-facing faculty, staff and clinical students, as well as nearly all of our Department of Public Safety officers. 

 

The state has been securing about 97,000 vaccine doses each week. The majority of those doses are distributed to the state’s healthcare systems –– including SSM –– and to mass vaccination clinics organized by the Missouri National Guard.

 

Only 2,000 doses are being allocated among the 63 “other vaccine providers,” of which SLU is a member. So, as of today, SLU still is awaiting vaccine doses for distribution to our faculty, staff and students, and then to their families and our University neighbors.

In the meantime, we strongly encourage any University community members who qualify to get a vaccine now to do so through a local vaccine provider (you can find a list of them here). 

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