Eastern will be expecting but not requiring COVID-19 vaccines during the Fall 2021 semester.

Regardless of vaccination status, however, all students and staff should report their status to the university for an accurate surveillance testing pool of unvaccinated people or those who have chosen to not disclose their vaccination status.

Vaccination reporting can be done in two ways: online and in-person.

Those reporting online consist of uploading photos of the person’s vaccination card in the MyHealth tab in PAWS. Those with technical issues can contact the ITS Help Desk at 581-4357.

The other option the campus community has is taking their vaccination card directly to the Medical Clinic.

All vaccination records will remain private and will be managed strictly by the Medical Clinic and the Human Resources Department.

Those who are interested in receiving a COVID-19 have three options to find the nearest locations with vaccines in stock:

• Search www.vaccines.gov

• Text a ZIP code to 438829

• Call 1-800-232-0233

Those who get vaccinated throughout the semester can report their vaccinated status at a later date if they wish by using the methods listed above.

All of those who are not vaccinated or did not report their status will be required to participate in the randomized SHEILD surveillance testing, though testing is open to vaccinated people who would like to participate.

Testing will take place at Court Five of the Student Recreation Center.

Those being tested should bring a photo ID to the testing site.

They should not eat, drink (including water), chew gum, smoke or use tobacco products within 60 minutes of providing a saliva sample. Doing any of the listed items can produce an inconclusive or invalid result and require retesting.

Test results are posted in the patient portal after the lab results are completed.

Masking is required for everyone on campus, even those who are fully vaccinated.

Masks are required to wear masks indoors in all buildings on campus.

The masking policy may change based solely on Coles County indictors and will be updated and revised based on the conditions of the county.

Eastern’s website notes:

” We recognize that health and safety guidelines can swiftly change as the scientific community assists us in mitigating COVID-19 and its evolving variants. Please be assured that those guidelines are closely monitored by the University. As guidelines change, members of the University community will be notified via their EIU email account. Updates also will be posted to the University’s COVID-19 website.”

Corryn Brock can be reached at 581-2812 or at deneic@eiu.edu.