College of Medicine Pandemic Response Friday Round-Up – Week of Aug. 23-27

From left, Dr. Leslie Parent, vice dean for research and graduate studies; Dr. Terry Wolpaw, vice dean of educational affairs; Dr. Charles Lang, associate dean for graduate studies; and Dr. Neal Thomas, associate dean for clinical research.

College of Medicine leaders updated faculty, staff and students on Aug. 27 about the ongoing response to the COVID-19 pandemic:

This Week’s Updates:

A Message from Dr. Black

In light of all that is going on in the world, between the events in Afghanistan to the devastation in Haiti as well as the continued COVID-19 pandemic, I wanted to reach out and recognize that we are all facing challenging times, and sometimes this can be a little overwhelming. I am, however, proud of the resources the College of Medicine offers to help when life gives us a little more than we can handle ourselves. In addition, Dr. Jennifer Bonatakis, an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral health and licensed psychologist, sent me the list of resources below that I wanted to share with all of you.

Asking for help every now and again makes us human. If your stress or response to these events across the world has starting interfering with your daily life, please consider reaching out to one of the resources below.

Respectfully,

Kevin Black, MD
Interim Dean

If you are experiencing suicidal thoughts, reach out to one of these crisis numbers, call 911, or go to your closest emergency room.

Submit Vaccination Status by Friday, Aug. 27

On Aug. 25, all Penn State students, faculty and staff were sent an email asking them to upload their vaccination status by Friday, Aug. 27. If you have not already done so, please complete this task sometime today.

Please note that information on vaccinations received at Penn State Health and Student Health is NOT automatically uploaded to the University repositories.

• Students can upload their vaccination records through myUHS and should complete this action even if they have already sent the same information to our College of Medicine Student Health office.
• Employees can share their vaccination status or verify that they have provided their status through Salesforce Health Cloud. Employees should use their Penn State access ID and password when logging in – not their Penn State Health email. If an error message appears, please open a new web browser and try again, or sign in to Workday first, which will prompt employees to enter their two-factor authentication for Penn State and allow them to sign in. For technology-related questions, submit a question to Service-now.

As announced in Penn State Today, Penn State students, faculty and staff who are not vaccinated for COVID-19 and those who have not shared with the University that they are fully vaccinated will be required to test weekly for COVID-19 throughout the fall semester, or until they share with the University that they have been fully vaccinated.

Testing for Unvaccinated Employees

Information will be released soon regarding weekly testing of unvaccinated employees. This applies to those who work on campus and hybrid workers who are on campus, with the exception of employees in technical services.

Answers to COVID-19 Vaccine Questions

In an Aug. 26 Penn State Health News article, Penn State Health infectious diseases experts provided answers to some current, pressing questions about COVID-19 vaccines. They answered questions such as “Was the vaccine developed so quickly that it may not be safe?” and “If the vaccine is so effective, then why are vaccinated people still getting COVID-19?” among many others. Those who have not yet been vaccinated are encouraged to read the entire article for information that may be helpful as they consider this important decision.

Clarification on Booster Shots

Last week’s Pandemic Response email mentioned booster shots for those who are immunocompromised. Some clarification is needed beyond that initial information.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has already authorized third doses for immunocompromised patients. These are recommended as part of the primary series for patients who may be unlikely to respond to two doses; the third dose can be given 28 days after the second dose and is available now at locations where vaccines are administered.

Booster shots for others, like health care workers, are still being discussed at the FDA and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These could be approved and become available later in September. The boosters, designed to boost antibody levels as they wane, would be administered six to eight months after the initial vaccine series is complete.

Attend College of Medicine Town Hall in September

A College-specific town hall will be held in September. The date will be announced at a later time as the planned date of Sept. 16 falls on Yom Kippur. Questions can be submitted in advance here.

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