Continued Flexibility
Dear Faculty Colleagues,
As you may have heard in recent reports, Governor DeWine has made a large quantity of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccines available to Kent State students through the month of April. The availability of these vaccines for our students is an incredible step forward in our journey to return to a more normal future.
The vaccines will start to be administered to any student who registers for it Thursday and Friday of this week (April 8-9), and Monday and Tuesday (April 12-13) of next week on the Kent Campus (more details for availability on the Regional Campuses will be coming soon, but any student is eligible to register on the Kent Campus for these upcoming and future dates). The vaccines must be administered within 7 days of receipt, so the timeline is tight.
I’m writing to you today to ask for your continued flexibility if students’ scheduled time for vaccination conflicts with class time. As you will see from the message sent to students today (included below), we have advised them to try to avoid scheduling a vaccination that conflicts with a scheduled exam, but anticipate that students will contact you to ask for an accommodation for missed classes due to the limited scheduling opportunities. Thank you for continuing to support our students during this pandemic.
We are excited to be able to support the roll-out of the vaccinations and help safeguard our Kent State community! And please join me in a very loud, very heartfelt appreciation for our College of Nursing and College of Public Health faculty and students who are volunteering in this effort to get the protective shots into the arms of our community. Flashes are, indeed, taking care of Flashes!
Thank you for all you do!
Melody
Dear Kent State University Students,
Beginning this Thursday, April 8, Kent State will be holding several vaccination clinics for students as part of a program announced by Gov. Mike DeWine. Kent State will be receiving a large quantity of the Johnson & Johnson one-shot COVID-19 vaccines, which will be given for free to students.
We strongly encourage all students to get vaccinated. The Johnson & Johnson one-shot vaccine is ideal for students who will leave campus by the end of spring break and will not return when classes resume fully remote on April 19. Residence hall students may choose to extend their stay to take advantage of this opportunity. The extended-stay option will allow students to remain in their residence hall until April 24, beyond the scheduled April 17 checkout, and will be at no cost to students. Further details will be provided in the confirmation email once vaccine registration is complete.
Students may register to receive the vaccination on the Kent Campus at www.uhs.kent.edu or by calling 330-672-2525. Distribution on the Kent Campus will be held at the Kent State Ice Arena, 650 Loop Road, Kent, OH 44242.
Students must be 18 years or older to receive the Johnson & Johnson shot and should try to avoid scheduling a vaccination that conflicts with a scheduled exam.
Students should not schedule a vaccination if they are experiencing COVID symptoms, are currently in isolation for COVID or have recently been exposed to someone with COVID, who is quarantined.
While still quite low compared to the fall semester, our numbers of weekly positive cases have been increasing, and the Ohio Department of Health notes the Kent Campus as a hot spot of increased transmission. We are also seeing a worrisome trend as at least one of the new, more communicable variants of the COVID-19 virus is now present in Northeast Ohio, and these variants appear to impact young people more than previous variants.
Soon, Kent State students may also register to be vaccinated at a Regional Campus site. Registration information for Regional Campus vaccination sites will be posted on the Kent State vaccination page.
We appreciate the effort of everyone in these efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
Sincerely,
Lamar R. Hylton, Ph.D.
Vice President, Student Affairs
Julie Volcheck
Assistant Vice President, Student Affairs
Director, University Health Services
Lisa Dannemiller, M.D.
Chief University Physician