To the Case Western Reserve Community:
We deeply appreciate the thousands of you who have taken the time to verify your vaccination status over the past nine weeks.
As noted in early May, planning for the fall semester requires knowing what proportion of the campus is fully vaccinated. First the university tried email appeals, then modest prizes and finally, later in June, large incentives.
By now nearly 70 percent of you have uploaded your cards. While this figure represents a strong showing, it is still too low to provide our community the level of protection it expects—and deserves.
So today we announce our next, necessary step: As of 5 p.m., Friday, July 23, all faculty, staff, and students must have:
- submitted proof of full or partial vaccination to our secure health record system, or
- notified 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 requested a medical or religious exception from the appropriate university office.*
Those faculty, staff and students who have not completed one of the above options may not come to campus after July 23.
Why is one of these steps now required? The safety and well-being of the campus community depends on them. Research shows that people who are fully vaccinated are significantly less likely to contract or spread COVID-19—and if they are infected, their symptoms will not be as severe. With highly transmissible delta variant present in all 50 states—and weekly U.S. case counts doubling in recent weeks—full vaccination is even more critical.
We provide additional information about this mandate and its implications on this Frequently Asked Questions page on the university’s COVID-19 website.
For those who have not submitted vaccination cards, instructions can be found on our vaccine verification webpage. For those with questions about the vaccines, we offer information on our vaccination page. And to learn when and where free vaccines are being offered on campus, please visit case.edu/vaccine.
In addition, greater Cleveland pharmacies and public health departments are offering free COVID-19 vaccinations; if you live in elsewhere in Ohio, this Get the Shot website can help you find one near you. Finally, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control’s vaccines.gov page allows you to search for sites nationwide.
Thank you again to those who have already submitted their cards, and to all who made the effort to receive vaccines available to them. If you have not already done so, please be sure to let the university know your status no later than 5 p.m. Friday, July 23.
Eric W. Kaler
President
Ben Vinson III
Provost and Executive Vice President
*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.