COVID-19 Vaccine

Important Announcement: As of February 24, 2023, the bivalent COVID-19 booster is no longer required for compliance in the spring 2023 semester. As detailed below, a COVID-19 booster is still required for compliance, but it does not need to be the bivalent booster.

Getting Started

We highly recommend that you watch the "Quick Start" episode of your program's video training before diving into individual requirements. All clinical and field programs at UConn require students to document vaccination for COVID-19 including a primary series and at least one booster. We recommend following CDC guidelines, which currently define "Full vaccination" as a primary vaccine series (two doses of Pfizer or Moderna or a single dose of Johnson & Johnson) plus the most recent booster for which one is eligible. As of 9/2/22, the bivalent booster was recommended for everyone ages 12+. Some agencies require the bivalent booster. If you have applied for and received a UConn-approved medical or religious exemption, you must submit documentation of that approved exemption. Note that a UConn-approved exemption does not guarantee placement as some agencies will not accept students who are not fully vaccinated for COVID-19 and placement is always at the agency's discretion. You will not be able to begin your placement if compliance requirements are not met, and you will be removed from your placement if compliance lapses.

COVID-19 Vaccine Episode

Summary below in case you just need a quick reference of the steps. Also see your program's PDF compliance guide.

What to Do

  1. Locate documentation of your COVID-19 vaccinations.
  2. Submit documentation of your COVID-19 vaccine doses to Complio - Remember to submit each dose to its corresponding requirement (COVID-19 Dose #1 and COVID-19 Dose #2 for Pfizer/Moderna primary series doses, COVID-19 Single Dose for a primary dose of Johnson & Johnson, and COVID-19 Booster 1 for your booster regardless of manufacturer) even if all doses are on one document. For what's required on your documents and how to work with documents in Complio, check out the "Working in Complio" episode of our training series
  3. Exemptions for the full vaccine or booster - Remember that not all agencies will accept an exemption and UConn is not responsible for placing students who do not meet agency requirements.
  4. Submitting Exemptions to Complio
    • If you have a medical or religious exemption for the full COVID-19 vaccine, submit documentation of that approved exemption using the COVID-19 Exemption requirement (SHaW Immunization History Report for medical exemptions or approval email for religious exemptions).
    • If you have a medical or religious exemption that applies only to the COVID-19 Booster, submit documentation of your primary COVID-19 vaccine doses to the corresponding requirements and then apply for an item exception for the COVID-19 Booster requirement, attaching your UConn-approved medical or religious booster exemption.

Troubleshooting

  • Problem: You think you've submitted everything, but Complio still says you aren't compliant for COVID-19
    • Have you submitted all vaccine doses, each to its own individual requirement?
    • Do all your documents include all the required information?
    • Were all your documents approved or was something rejected?
    • If you had a rejection, have you addressed the issue and resubmitted your documentation?
  • Problem: Your exemption was rejected in Complio
    • Did you submit a UConn-approved medical or religious exemption as outlined above and in the video episode?
    • Does the document you submitted show your name and the type of exemption you received?

What's Next

  • Complete COVID-19 steps and submit them to Complio
  • Review other episodes
    • Working in Complio - all about documents, submitting requirements, understanding reviewer comments, etc.
    • Other immunization requirements
    • Other requirement-specific episodes from your program's playlist