For the required COVID-19 vaccine, IU will accept vaccinations authorized for emergency use by the United States Food and Drug Administration for those vaccinated in the U.S. and those under the emergency use listing by the World Health Organization for international students, Dr. Lana Dbeibo, director of vaccine initiatives for IU's Medical Response Team, said in an “Ask Aaron” webinar Monday.
This includes vaccinations from Pfizer, Moderna, Johnson and Johnson, AstraZeneca and Sinopharm.
Those who have previously contracted COVID-19 are not exempt from getting the vaccine, Dr. Aaron Carroll, IU’s director of surveillance and mitigation, said.
IU announced May 21 that COVID-19 vaccinations are required for all IU students, staff and faculty, who must be fully vaccinated no later than August 15 or when returning to campus after August 1. Vaccination status can be reported to IU through an online form.
Those who are fully vaccinated will not have to quarantine if exposed to COVID-19. Those who are exempt from the vaccine will have to quarantine when exposed to the virus, wear a mask on campus and be subject to mitigation testing twice a week, Carroll said.
International students who are not able to access a FDA or WHO approved vaccine in their country will not be penalized and will be able to get the vaccine in Indiana, Dbeibo said.
Students in Bloomington can get vaccinated at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall. Appointments can be scheduled through the Indiana government’s website.
A person is considered to be fully vaccinated two weeks after their second dose of a two-dose vaccine or two weeks after a dose of a single-dose vaccine, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s website.
A person is not fully vaccinated if they get the first dose of one vaccine and a second dose of another, Dbeibo said. To be fully vaccinated from a two-dose vaccination, a person must receive both doses of the same vaccine, she said.
Carroll said he believes students want to be able to go to in-person classes, sit with friends in the dining halls, attend football and basketball games and go to parties safely.
“The vaccine mandate allows us to have all of that,” Carroll said.
Masks will still be expected at events where more than 250 people are present and there is a “significant number of public, non-IU attendees present,” according to IU’s website.
IU will share full details about an exemption process by June 15, but approved exemptions will be limited, according to IU’s website.
“We would not do this if we did not believe that it was legal and ethical and the right thing to do,” Carroll said. “We believe this is the way we protect those who cannot protect themselves.”
