Dec. 14, 2021 – COVID-19 vaccine booster shots

Posted by on Tuesday, December 14, 2021 in Community Messages.

Dear Vanderbilt community,

As we approach the winter break, I first want to thank you for your continued efforts navigating the pandemic this semester. While we have been successful in keeping our campus COVID-19 numbers low, our public health experts are stressing, based on data and trends, that boosters are extremely important to prevent severe illness from the delta variant and to prevent infection from the omicron variant.

I strongly encourage you to get a booster shot if you’ve reached the eligibility period. Preliminary data indicate that those who have received a booster vaccination have far greater numbers of antibodies and are less likely to get infected or have severe illness with either delta or omicron—particularly those with chronic health conditions.

If you need a booster, VUMC, the Student Health Center, walk-in clinics, and pharmacies offer them free of charge. You can find options outside Vanderbilt Health, if needed, at vaccinefinder.org.

For those who have already received the booster, thank you for stepping up to protect yourselves and others.

All members of the Vanderbilt community are encouraged to voluntarily report their booster record to vu.edu/submit-vaccine. Knowing the numbers of Vanderbilt community members receiving their booster shots will help us to understand the risk level within our campus community and inform our decisions moving forward.

I know many of you continue to have questions and concerns related to the pandemic, especially with the rise of the omicron variant. Our university leaders and VUMC experts are watching developments surrounding this variant closely. While information is still emerging, I encourage you to review the latest information about omicron from our VUMC experts.

Thank you for your work to help keep our community safe.

Eric Kopstain
Vice Chancellor for Administration