Dear UCSF Community,
As we continue to roll out our vaccination efforts, I want to acknowledge the grim milestone that we have just passed as a nation. On Monday, the United States surpassed 500,000 deaths from COVID-19, including the nearly 1,500 people who lost their lives that day alone. We mourn the lives lost and send our heartfelt condolences to their families and friends.
The effort to vaccinate all of our communities remains one of the highest priorities across the country. To date, UCSF Health has provided more than 75,000 vaccine doses to our employees, learners, patients and community members. Now we are entering a new phase of the vaccine rollout, in alignment with the City of San Francisco, based on the state eligibility guidelines for educational institutions.
As of today, we will begin vaccinating our remaining employees and learners, as well as our patients in the new categories, following the updated California Department of Public Health guidelines. This also includes UCSF employees who are working remotely. Vaccinations for faculty, trainees and staff at UCSF Fresno are being administered locally in Fresno.
The new directive is broad and aims to enable daycare, schools, colleges and other educational institutions – including our own – to reopen safely. The new categories also include our patients who work in childcare, teaching, as first responders, or in food and agriculture.
While this is good news, it is important to understand how limited vaccine supplies remain. As vaccine production, distribution capacity...
Dear UCSF Community,
We have reached a new milestone in our COVID-19 vaccination efforts, having provided more than 50,000 doses of vaccine to our employees, city health care workers, and patients. This is a phenomenal effort and I am proud of the many teams across UCSF that continue to drive this critical public health goal.
As a result of additional Pfizer vaccine supply made available this week, we have been able to move more quickly than I described in my February 1 message.
As of Monday, February 8, we will begin vaccinating all employees and learners whose work has required them to be on site at least once per week for the past three months. You will be required to attest to your eligibility when you schedule your appointment.
While this is good news, it is important to understand how limited vaccine supplies remain. As demand continues to outpace supply, we and other health care providers face the real possibility of running out of vaccines each week. I am grateful that our vaccine leadership team is working continuously to avoid this possibility. In addition, we are continuing to expand our capacity to provide vaccinations, so that we are prepared to vaccinate greater numbers of people as the vaccine supply and distribution increase.
Given the vaccine shortage, the University of California Office of the President has asked us to prioritize patients to employees at a 2:1 ratio for our remaining rollout. We will be able to vaccinate about 200 employees and learners per day for first doses in the coming weeks. UCSF ID badge swipe data indicate that approximately...
Dear UCSF Community,
As we make steady progress in vaccinating our highest-risk employees, learners and patients, I would like to make you aware of three new policies that will affect when and how some members of our community receive their COVID-19 vaccinations. Note that these will depend on our vaccine supply, which we expect to remain limited for the next few weeks.
UCOP Establishes Vaccine Timeline for All UC Campuses
The UC Office of the President has developed a simplified framework that is aligned with state guidelines and will be used at all UC campuses during the next phase of the rollout, to help determine when patients and employees become eligible to receive the vaccine.
During the first three weeks of February, a new group will be able to start scheduling their vaccination appointments each week through MyChart.
- Week 1 (Feb. 1): Patients and employees (on-site and remote) age 65 or older.
- Week 2 (Feb. 8): On-site food service, childcare, veterinary/animal care, and emergency services workers who have not yet been vaccinated.
- Week 3 (Feb. 15): All other workers who are required to be on-site at least once a week.
Self-Scheduling Your Vaccination
Last week, we launched a new MyChart system to enable our patients to self-schedule their vaccines as soon as they become eligible, based on vaccine availability. Starting next week, UCSF employees who have not been vaccinated will be able to self-schedule their vaccine through MyChart. When scheduling your appointment, you will be asked to attest that you meet the eligibility criteria. Over the next three weeks, the priority groups will be...