Dear Highlanders,
Today, I am writing to announce two important pieces of information.
1. A new UC vaccination policy has gone into effect.
2. All UC Riverside employees and students must upload a vaccination record by Monday, August 16.
As of last week, more than 330 million doses of vaccine had been administered and 158.6 million individuals were fully vaccinated in the United States. In recent months, COVID-19 cases have been declining in areas where vaccination rates are high. New cases are spiking in areas where vaccination rates are low.
For several months, we have been encouraging COVID-19 vaccinations in advance of policy change and in the interest of individual and collective health and safety. Vaccinations are widely available through local pharmacies, including CVS and Walgreens, and county clinics, in addition to your primary healthcare provider.
Additionally, there is no cost for vaccinations for students with UC SHIP. If you would like a COVID-19 vaccination through UC SHIP, please follow these steps.
1. Contact Student Health Services (SHS) at 951-827-3031 to obtain a referral. No appointment is needed.
2. SHS medical staff will complete the referral in three to five business days.
3. You will receive a message in your patient portal that your referral is complete.
You can visit vaccines.gov to find a vaccine site near you and schedule your appointment.
Additionally, SHS is now scheduling student appointments for our COVID-19 vaccine clinics. The COVID-19 vaccine clinic takes place every Friday from 1–3:30 p.m. at Student Health Services, adjacent to Lot 15. To schedule an appointment, please contact the COVID Hotline at (844) 827-6827. Please note that your vaccine will be free regardless of insurance.
Submit Your Record by Monday, August 16
Once you have completed the entire series for your vaccine (one or two shots depending on the type and manufacturer) and have a complete vaccination record, upload your proof of vaccination to the SHS patient portal. Instruction on how to upload information is available in this video.
SHS is accepting all international COVID-19 vaccines that have been approved by the World Health Organization (WHO). Additional information can be found on https://studenthealth.ucr.edu/covid-19.
Please submit your information no later than Monday, August 16.
The vaccination policy includes a narrow range of exceptions for individual medical reasons or religious beliefs. More information will be forthcoming for students seeking an exemption on medical, disability, or religious grounds; or deferral (based on pregnancy).
We understand that not all students can receive vaccination. This makes it even more crucial that all who can be vaccinated are vaccinated.
Face Coverings
Anyone who has not yet submitted proof of vaccination must continue wearing face coverings when on university property. Many students have already received clearance to be on campus without face coverings because they submitted their vaccine record. However, without proof of vaccination, wearing face coverings is still required.
The policy was developed to ensure health and safety at the UC campuses. Thank you for doing your part to keep our campus community healthy and safe.