Vaccines

COVID-19
FAQ
Vaccines

St. Olaf has been working diligently with Northfield Urgent Care to plan vaccine clinics on campus in April. Additionally, we continue to work with Rice County Public Health to share their vaccine clinic opportunities whenever possible. These vaccine clinic opportunities are being offered to those faculty, staff, and students who have been identified as falling into the Phase 1A and Phase 1B (initial tiers) priority lists. The current prioritization for vaccines is linked here.

Governor Tim Walz formally announced that beginning March 30, all Minnesotans 16 and older will be eligible to receive a COVID vaccine.

Walz said, “This does not mean you’re necessarily going to get this next week. It means you’re in line. There are not enough vaccines for everyone who wants one right now, but supply is ramping up.”

St. Olaf will continue to prioritize the COVID-19 vaccination opportunities in accordance with the Minnesota Department of Health guidance. Learn more on the Who’s Getting Vaccinated site.

St. Olaf is partnering with Northfield Urgent Care to bring vaccine clinics to campus. The college is also currently working with Rice County Department of Health to offer vaccine opportunities to those students, faculty and staff that fall into the current priority categories. Additional categories will be identified and submitted by St. Olaf as allowed by Rice County, which may not fully correspond with the state’s eligibility in the Vaccine Connector tool mentioned below. This is due to the vaccine being offered by various providers throughout the state.

If you have the opportunity to receive the vaccine somewhere else — including at a state vaccination site, through another employer, from your healthcare provider, or at a local pharmacy — please strongly consider it. Students are allowed to leave campus to get a vaccine, but need to fill out the request form and email c19vaccinetransport@stolaf.edu.

Northfield Hospitals and Clinics has created a vaccine waitlist open to anyone age 16 and older.

The state also rolled out a helpful tool, which all can use to help determine their eligibility. Access the Vaccine Connector tool linked here. In the days ahead, the Vaccine Connector will inform newly-eligible Minnesotans about vaccine opportunities in their area. If you are eligible, you may also be selected to make an appointment at one of the state’s COVID-19 Community Vaccination Program sites. If you are selected, you will be notified by text, email, or phone call by one of the state vaccination partners running those sites, Vault Health or Primary Bio. Additional community vaccination sites may launch as the federal government makes more vaccines available in the future.

If you need to update your Vaccine Connector profile, contact the Minnesota COVID-19 Vaccine Connector Hotline at 833-431-2053.

If you are eligible to get vaccinated, you do not have to wait for information from the Minnesota COVID-19 Vaccine Connector before you get your shot. You can connect with your primary health care provider or use the Find Vaccine Locations map to find a vaccine appointment near you.

We cannot provide a definitive answer at this time. St. Olaf and Rice County Public Health continue to follow the Minnesota Department of Health current prioritization for vaccines, linked here.

COVID-19 vaccination distribution will continue to occur in phases as there is a limited supply of the vaccine. St. Olaf is working diligently with Northfield Urgent Care to plan vaccine clinics on campus in April.

St. Olaf has already submitted the following groups to participate in Rice County vaccine clinics:

Healthcare (e.g. Nursing, Athletic Trainers)
First Responders (e.g. Public Safety, Custodial Rapid Response Team)
Mental Health (e.g. Boe Counseling, College Ministry, Residence Life)
COVID Testers
Education PreK-12 (e.g. Education Dept, TRIO Upward Bound and Educational Talent Search Programs)
Age 65+
Individuals with underlying health conditions
Essential Workers

Non-exempt (hourly) staff obtaining the COVID-19 vaccine are able to use the SLR-ER field in TES. We estimate this time to be no more than 1.5 to 2 hours of time if obtaining the vaccine off campus. If the vaccine is obtained on campus, we estimate this time to be approximately 30 minutes, which does not need to be logged in the SLR-ER field.

Supervisors are encouraged to provide flexibility to employees to obtain the vaccine.

In an effort to plan for vaccine clinic opportunities, the college is reaching out to individuals in the priority groups to obtain their vaccine status. Eventually, the college will be asking all students, faculty and staff to report when they are fully vaccinated.

Note: There may be other times in which an individual’s vaccine status must be known by select members of the college. For example, CDC and MDH guidance says that a vaccinated person who has been exposed to COVID-19 does not need to quarantine if it’s within a specific window of time. If a vaccinated student becomes exposed, the St. Olaf Contact Tracing Team will need to see proof of vaccination in order to bypass their quarantine requirement. This applies to faculty and staff as well.