College of Medicine Pandemic Response Friday Round-Up – Week of Jan. 25-29
Watch Replay of This Week’s Vaccine Town Hall
Watch the replay of the Jan. 27 COVID-19 Vaccine Education town hall. College of Medicine and Penn State Health leadership and faculty held a vaccine town hall Wednesday to discuss common concerns about the vaccine and answer employee questions.
COVID-19 Vaccination Update
- Last day to sign up to receive vaccine: All faculty, staff and students should have received emails to sign up for the vaccine. The email is from “covid19vaccine,” and the subject line reads “Important COVID-19 Vaccination Scheduling Information.” We strongly encourage you to take the vaccine while it is available internally to our faculty, staff and students. For more information on the vaccine, please refer to the FAQ document and watch the Jan. 19 town hall recording.
Today, Friday, Jan. 29, is the final day for COM employees and students to register for the vaccine. In March, there will be a monthly vaccination clinic at all of Penn State Health’s hospitals settings. We will share more information on the monthly vaccination clinics through Employee Health as it becomes available.
- Side effects from vaccine: Due to the large number of questions on this topic, please refer to the FAQ document and recording of this week’s town hall. Please note it is not necessary to call Occupational Health to report your side effects. The guidance from Penn State Occupational Health is to take Tylenol, rest and if additional concerns continue, contact your primary health care provider.
- Exposed to COVID or have symptoms? If you have been exposed to COVID-19 or are sick with COVID-like symptoms, employees should continue to call Occupational Health at 814-863-8492, and students should continue to call Student Health at 717-531-5998.
Required Surveillance Testing for Employees and Students
Beginning Feb. 15, the University will conduct random daily surveillance testing of approximately 2% of the University’s on-campus population across all campuses. Random daily surveillance testing is also planned for students starting early March, and more details will be announcement later. Employees and students who are randomly selected to participate in surveillance testing will receive an email indicating they are selected and must complete a COVID-19 test. Please note that students will need to complete both the random surveillance testing and required campus testing.
Reagent Supply Center Now Open
The College of Medicine Reagent Supply Center in C1735 has officially reopened for business. Stocked reagents can now be purchased at discounted prices (with no shipping or ice charges). Special orders for various items that are not kept in daily stock can be ordered at discounted prices. Email your request to Suja Maddukuri at srm25@psu.edu. While ongoing nationwide supply chain shortages have delayed the restocking of some items, most have been restocked. To minimize unnecessary face-to-face interactions during the pandemic, please check the availability and current prices of products by going to the Stocked Products Catalog tab here. Item availability will be updated on this website every few days.
In Case You Missed It
See last week’s email which covered the following topics:
- COM Safety Guidelines Remain Unchanged
- In-person Clinical Research Studies Paused
- Required Surveillance Testing for Employees and Students
- Return COVID Testing for All Students
- University Fitness Center Reopens Jan. 25
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