Employees should schedule COVID-19 vaccinations now, before community demand affects access
Penn State Health opened COVID-19 vaccinations to all Penn State Health and College of Medicine employees this week. An email sent Jan. 12 invited all staff to self-schedule their vaccinations through Sign-up Genius at Hershey Medical Center, St. Joseph Medical Center or Holy Spirit Medical Center.
Anyone – from any tier – who has not yet scheduled their vaccine is strongly encouraged to do so now, before community demand makes the process more difficult.
Michelle Ball, telehealth coordinator for the Department of Dermatology at Hershey Medical Center, was initially skeptical. “Being a healthy individual, I was reluctant to get a vaccine that was new and unknown,” she said.
At first she planned to wait and let others get the vaccine ahead of her. Then she read about it. She listened to Penn State Health leadership discussing its benefits at town hall meetings. She spoke with providers in her department and watched them returning to the office with bandages on their arms.
She thought of her parents living in nearby Hummelstown, her colleagues and her patients.
Finally, Ball changed her mind. When she received the email on Wednesday morning letting her know she was eligible to receive the vaccine, she signed up. Her appointment is on Monday.
“I came to the conclusion,” she said, “that I was doing it for others rather than myself.”
Important information about staff vaccinations:
- Additional vaccination appointment slots are available for employees through Jan. 29.
- Employees should allow up to 30 minutes for the vaccine appointment.
- The appointment for employees’ second dose will be scheduled at the time of their first dose.
- They must receive both doses at the same hospital location.
- Recipients of the vaccine are encouraged to enroll in the v-safe Employees should contact their manager and employee health if they experience side effects that prevent them from reporting to work.
Since Jan. 6, Penn State Health has been allocating a percentage of the vaccines it receives from the Pennsylvania Department of Health to community health care and emergency medical services providers not affiliated with the health system. Hershey Medical Center, Holy Spirit Medical Center and St. Joseph Medical Center began offering community vaccination clinics the week of Jan. 11. Interest has been great, with hundreds of providers reaching out to Penn State Health to inquire about signing up themselves and their staff for the vaccine.
As of Jan. 13, over 10,000 Penn State Health and College of Medicine employees have received the COVID-19 vaccination.
See the Employee Vaccine FAQs on the Infonet for answers to questions about the vaccine.
Users at clinical work stations can view the video here.
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