Dedicated COVID-19 vaccination doses for our university community

Dear Students, Faculty and Staff: 

I write today with exciting news. 

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has announced guidelines for employer-based vaccine programs starting the week of April 12. Beginning that week and consistent with those guidelines, we are pleased to announce the ability to dedicate 25% of the Wexner Medical Center’s first-dose vaccine allocation to any Ohio State student, faculty or staff member, while maintaining our commitment to our patients and the central Ohio community. This is possible because of the increasing number of doses available to the Wexner Medical Center and the Governor’s work to secure additional vaccines for college and university students in Ohio.  

Appointments under this new opportunity will be displayed in MyChart beginning April 9, with the first available appointments beginning Wednesday, April 14, and running through April 20. Each week, additional appointments will be released after we receive information about the brand and the number of doses for our next weekly allocation of vaccine. 

Between now and the week of April 12:

  • We have been provided the opportunity by the state to offer dedicated appointments to Ohio State students so that they can complete both their first and second doses of vaccine prior to the end of the semester. The response from our students has been outstanding, with all appointments filled for this week. Additional student appointments will be available for the week of April 5.

  • Faculty and staff of all ages remain eligible to sign up for public appointments at the Wexner Medical Center or any other vaccine provider – and we strongly encourage everyone to continue to do so. More information on the dedicated appointments for faculty and staff will be released in the next week. 

Currently, we estimate that more than 30% of the university community – students, faculty and staff – has already received or is scheduled to receive a first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. This next step means that even more of our campus community can be vaccinated this spring and throughout the summer – potentially allowing for greater safe and robust in-person experiences in the fall. 

Our thanks go to Governor DeWine and his team for their close collaboration throughout this process. As Ohio State is the largest employer in central Ohio, the fourth-largest employer in the state, and the largest institution of higher education in the state, more vaccinations for more Buckeyes are good for Ohio.

The dedicated doses will be distributed at our Schottenstein Center vaccination location.

Both dedicated and public appointments can be scheduled via the Wexner Medical Center by logging into MyChart. You can also follow this step-by-step guide. If you are not a patient of our medical center or don’t have a MyChart account, call 614-688-VAXX (8299) for assistance. If no appointments are available when you try to schedule, visit this website to sign up to be notified when additional appointment times are posted. Click on the “Get Notified” box and follow the instructions to enter your contact information.

In addition to our Wexner Medical Center sites, the COVID-19 vaccine is available at more than 1,300 locations across Ohio and more than 110 locations in Franklin County, including retail pharmacies, hospitals and public health departments. To search for locations, visit the Ohio Department of Health website; new vaccine appointments are updated often, so please do not get discouraged if initial options are filled.

In addition to continuing all of our safe and healthy behaviors, getting vaccinated is the strongest step you can take right now to combat the COVID-19 variants that are trending toward becoming dominant among cases here at the university as well as nationally and internationally. These variants are more contagious and can cause more serious illness, even among younger people.

If you have questions about the vaccine, I encourage you to review these Frequently Asked Questions from the Wexner Medical Center or visit the Safe and Healthy Buckeyes website for more information. There will also be an opportunity to have questions answered by our experts on April 12 at the next COVID-19 Town Hall. You can register by clicking this link.

Our work to combat the spread of COVID-19 has been outstanding and proves what we can do when we come together as a community. Vaccinating as many people as possible is a critical step in keeping our community and our surrounding communities safe from the virus. Let’s do this together – so we can stay safe and stay Together As Buckeyes. 

Sincerely yours,
 


Kristina M. Johnson, PhD
President