| COVID-19 Vaccine

UIW Employee COVID-19 Vaccine Policy

All employees are required to be fully vaccinated for the COVID-19 virus. If you have not already done so, please upload your status to Med-Proctor, which can be accessed through Cardinal Apps..

We hope that by requiring the vaccine for our employee community, we can provide the safest possible environment and educational experience for our staff, students, and area community. We look to the words of Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, who stated that being vaccinated is “…an act of love of our neighbor and part of our moral responsibility for the common good.”

The policy applies to employees of all classifications working in any location, including on-campus or remotely. Below you will find the vaccine policy, vaccine FAQs and helpful instructions on how to report your vaccination status.

COVID-19 Vaccine

What is COVID-19?

COVID-19 is caused by a coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2. This type of coronavirus has not been seen before. You can get COVID-19 through contact with another person who has the virus. It is predominantly a respiratory illness that can affect other organs. People with COVID-19 have had a wide range of symptoms reported, ranging from mild symptoms to severe illness. Symptoms may appear 2 to 14 days after exposure to the virus. Symptoms may include: fever or chills; cough; shortness of breath; fatigue; muscle or body aches; headache; new loss of taste or smell; sore throat; congestion or runny nose; nausea or vomiting; diarrhea. Severe cases of COVID-19 may result in hospitalization or even death.

Who should get the vaccine?

On December 11, 2020, the FDA issued an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the use of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine in persons aged 16 years and older and on December 13, 2020, ACIP issued recommendation for the use of Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine for the prevention of COVID-19. Children 12 years and older are now able to get the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine .

On December 18, 2020, the U.S.. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the second vaccine for the prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The emergency use authorization allows the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine to be distributed in the U.S. for use in individuals 18 years of age and older.

On February 27, 2021, the U.S.. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the third vaccine for the prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

Who should not get this vaccine?

• If you have had a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) or an immediate allergic reaction — even if it was not severe — to any ingredient in an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, you should not get an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.
• If you have had a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) or an immediate allergic reaction—even if it was not severe—after getting the first dose of the vaccine, you should not get another dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.
• An immediate allergic reaction means a reaction within 4 hours of getting vaccinated, including symptoms such as hives, swelling, or wheezing (respiratory distress).
• This includes allergic reactions to polyethylene glycol (PEG) and polysorbate. Polysorbate is not an ingredient in either mRNA COVID-19 vaccine but is closely related to PEG, which is in the vaccines. People who are allergic to PEG or polysorbate should not get an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine.

How well does the vaccine work?

The COVID-19 vaccines have demonstrated efficacy at preventing severe and symptomatic COVID-19.

Most common side effects

In the arm where you got the shot:

• Pain
• Swelling
• Redness

Throughout the rest of your body:

• Chills
• Tiredness
• Headache

Safety Data

• The above side effects are common but are mostly mild to moderate in clinical trials.
• Side effects (such as fever, chills, tiredness, and headache) were more common after the second dose of the vaccine.

Most side effects were mild to moderate. However, a small number of people had severe side effects, defined as side effects affecting a person’s ability to do daily activities.