MORGANTOWN — West Virginia University has spent the summer encouraging faculty, staff and students to get their COVID-19 vaccines. The institution has been frequently updating the public on its vaccination rates as it strives to meet its goal of having 70% of its campus community fully vaccinated by Aug. 1.
As of this Tuesday, July 20, the university reported that 55% of its faculty and staff and 52% of its students have verified they are fully vaccinated for COVID-19.
These new numbers demonstrate a 13% increase in vaccinations among faculty and staff and a 16% increase in student vaccinations in comparison to WVU’s numbers reported on July 13, which indicated 42% of faculty and staff and 36% of students had been fully vaccinated for COVID-19.
WVU Assistant Vice President for Strategic Initiatives Erin Newmeyer said the university’s goal of having 70% of its entire campus community fully vaccinated was driven by the recommendations of the institutions Public Health and Safety Committee and its team of expert physicians.
“That is what they look to achieve or attain that would consider the campus community to reach herd immunity,” she said.
According to the American Lung Association (ALA), herd immunity is achieved when a significant percentage of a population becomes immune to a disease, indirectly protecting those who do not have immunity from that disease.
The association also says that in the majority of cases, herd immunity is not reached without the presence of an effective vaccine.
Newmeyer said encouraging the campus community to get vaccinated has been a priority for WVU since COVID-19 vaccines became available to it through the Higher Education Policy Commission in West Virginia.
The university has provided vaccines on campus and has made its vaccine clinics as accessible as possible for faculty, staff and students. The university has served as a vaccine site that has provided all three COVID-19 vaccines – Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson – at some point in time, she said.
Additionally, Newmeyer said, the university has run a series of educational videos and marketing materials to help communicate and alleviate concerns caused by the spread of misinformation regarding the COVID-19 vaccines.
The university has gone a step further in its encouragement of its campus community to receive COVID-19 vaccines by recently announcing a prize series to entice students to get vaccinated and register their vaccination with the university, said Newmeyer.
“There have been lots of things going on across campus,” she said.
The university has also launched several return to campus incentives that will be provided if the university reaches its 70% goal, she said. These incentives include additional Welcome Week and similar activities that the university wouldn’t necessarily put in place if it didn’t reach its goal.
Newmeyer noted that after a difficult year and two challenging semesters, the university knows faculty, staff and students took a much-needed break this summer.
“Almost a little bit of a pause to breathe and catch up and settle themselves back into what a new normal might look like,” she said.
Subsequently, the university knows that its vaccination rate is higher than what it has been reporting the past few months – it’s just a matter of getting in touch with students, faculty and staff after their breather to give them an opportunity to tell the university that they’ve been vaccinated, Newmeyer said.
“At this point, it’s just reengaging with our campus community and getting some of them to tell us, ‘Hey, I’m vaccinated,’” she said.
She said the university feels that by its Aug. 1 deadline, its vaccination rate will have continued to increase.
The university also believes that as students return past that deadline for the beginning of the fall semester on Aug. 18, more students will come forward and verify their vaccination status with the university, she said.
“Ideally, 70% and higher is where we’d like to be, and I think as an institution we feel pretty good about getting ourselves there and protecting our campus community as well as the broader Morgantown community with the higher vaccination rate,” she said.
WVU posts campus community vaccination status updates to its Facebook page as well as to its Return to Campus webpage every Tuesday at 2 p.m. Those interested in WVU’s progress should continue to check those pages throughout the summer.
More information on WVU’s vaccine incentives can be found on its website.
If you are a WVU student, faculty or staff member who would like to verify your vaccination status with the university, you can do so on its website as well.
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