We are ending this semester as COVID-19 positivity increases on campus and throughout the region. Your health and safety remain our top priorities, and we are committed to continually altering our public health guidance based on current data and the advice of our Penn Medicine colleagues, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health, and state and federal agencies.
In this spirit, the University will now require all eligible students, faculty, postdocs, and staff to receive a COVID-19 booster shot by January 31. Anyone who is not yet eligible for the booster by January 31 must receive the shot within 30 days of becoming eligible. Individuals who were previously approved for a medical or religious exemption from the COVID-19 vaccination requirement will be exempt from this new requirement. Students enrolled in an online program are also required to receive the COVID-19 booster. According to the current guidelines of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), individuals are eligible for a booster six months after their second dose of a Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine or two months after receiving the Johnson and Johnson vaccine. For more information, visit the CDC website.
All members of the Penn community are urged to get their booster as soon as they become eligible and document their latest dose either in Workday or through the Student Health Portal. The University will hold additional booster clinics at the start of the spring semester, and more information will be forthcoming. Additionally, the CDC Vaccine Finder lists clinics by zip code.
We wish all of you a happy, healthy holiday season, and we will continue to keep you updated as the situation evolves.