Recording Vaccination Status is Now Mandatory

To: The Caltech Community
From:
     Thomas F. Rosenbaum, President
     David A. Tirrell, Provost
     Steve Atlee, Vaccine Working Group Chair and Deputy General Counsel
Date: April 15, 2021
Re: Recording Vaccination Status is Now Mandatory

This week California expanded vaccine eligibility to include all residents who are 16 years of age or older. With this development, Caltech will now require all members of the community to record their current vaccination status with the Institute. 

Caltech students, faculty, postdocs, and staff members should update their vaccination progress, attest to future vaccination plans, or indicate that they have no current plans to be vaccinated through the web-based COVID-19 Reporting Application. All individuals are required to update their record by no later than April 23.

A 100 percent vaccination-status response rate is essential to the Institute's continued pandemic planning and response efforts. Approximately 4,200 community members have recorded their status as of today; that means that more than 1,000 individuals are yet to complete the online form. Approximately two-thirds of active students and employees have reported to the Institute that they have received at least one vaccine dose. 

Directions for reporting your vaccination status, as well as information and resources on vaccine efficacy and effectiveness, are available on the Caltech Together website. Additional questions about the tool or the Institute's reporting requirement may be directed to HR Customer Service at [email protected].

We encourage members of the community who have not yet been vaccinated to make a concerted effort to access the vaccine for the health and well-being of yourself and your community. All of the vaccines currently distributed in the United States have proven to be highly effective in preventing COVID-19 and, more importantly, in preventing hospitalizations and deaths from the disease. A high vaccination rate within our community is critical to the resumption of more traditional campus operations.

Caltech does not currently have a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination policy, but is considering such requirements in its pandemic response planning efforts.  

If you have not yet been vaccinated and reside in the region, we encourage you to make an appointment for one of the two upcoming first-dose Moderna vaccine clinics that Caltech will be offering in partnership with Vons Pharmacy. Links for making an appointment at the first of two clinics, scheduled for Friday, April 30, will be emailed to all community members on Friday, April 16. A registration link for a Friday, May 7 clinic will be shared at a later date.

Appointments are restricted to individuals who are employed by or enrolled at Caltech. Individuals who receive their first dose at a Caltech clinic will then have an opportunity to register to participate in the second-dose on-campus clinics planned for May 28 or June 4. The one-month window between these first- and second-dose clinics aligns with the FDA-authorized timeline for allocating the Moderna vaccine. 

If you are unable to participate in one of the planned on-campus clinics, we encourage you to seek access to the vaccine through available vaccination sites run by federal, state, and county authorities, or directly through a local pharmacy. Additional vaccine appointments, including for clinics run through the City of Pasadena, are available through the California Department of Public Health's MyTurn website. If you are a student enrolled at Caltech or a new employee coming to campus and you are not in the area and have not been able to access the vaccine before coming to campus, Human Resources and Student Wellness Services will be available to connect you with local resources once you arrive.

Thank you for your continued diligence in adhering to all preventative measures and for helping us to protect the health and well-being of all members of our community.