To the Case Western Reserve Community:
We write with a reminder that 5 p.m. today (Friday, July 23) is the deadline to comply with the university’s vaccine verification requirements.
As President Kaler and Provost Vinson wrote last week, compliance involves taking one of the following three actions:
- submitting proof of full or partial vaccination to our secure health record system, or
- notifying the university that you have not been able to access an eligible vaccine (or are partially vaccinated) and wish to receive one from the university, or
- formally requesting a medical or religious exception from the appropriate university office.*
We are pleased to share that today the university is offering vaccinations from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. in Room 111 of Crawford Hall.
The university’s policy exists to protect the health and well-being of everyone on campus. We have repeatedly noted that full vaccination dramatically reduces the likelihood of infection and, if infected, the seriousness of symptoms.
But we are also mindful of the severe risks to those who are not vaccinated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports unvaccinated individuals account for 97 percent of those hospitalized for COVID-19—and 99.5 percent of those who have died in recent months.
Keep in mind: Some members of our community cannot receive a COVID-19 vaccine for medical or other reasons; every additional person on campus who chooses not to be vaccinated puts them in greater danger.
This week many of you have posed questions about this requirement as well as Wednesday’s follow-up email. We address the most common of them on our updated FAQs page, but also want to notify you of a change to our approach to those who have not responded by today’s deadline:
You should still come to campus if you have not complied, but you must wear your mask and maintain physical distance from others when here.
As noted in the FAQs, faculty, staff, and students who have not complied still will be contacted by, respectively, the Offices of the Provost, Human Resources and Student Conduct and Community Standards. Failure to comply may affect the nature of employment—or, in the case of students, enrollment and/or housing.
Please take your shot—for yourself, your loved ones, and everyone else on our campus.
Carolyn Gregory
Vice President for Human Resources
Lou Stark
Vice President for Student Affairs
*All religious exception requests should be submitted to the Office of Equity, as should medical exception requests from faculty and staff. Students should submit medical exception requests to Disability Resources.