UK will require unvaccinated employees to be tested for COVID-19 weekly
Unvaccinated University of Kentucky employees will be required to get COVID-19 tests each week, beginning Wednesday.
Unvaccinated students were already required to have regular tests. Now, faculty and staff will need tests. Once someone is fully vaccinated, they are no longer required to be tested weekly, UK President Eli Capilouto announced in an email on Thursday.
“I have made this decision in consultation with our elected faculty, staff and student representatives, based on their very thoughtful recommendations as we continue to navigate in response to emerging data and evidence related to the pandemic,” Capilouto said.
Employees will be able to get tested on and near campus. Hourly employees will be able to be tested without taking time off, Capilouto said. There will be employee-only testing locations on campus, including walk-up and drive-through options, UK spokesperson Jay Blanton said Friday morning. More details about those locations will be announced next week.
UK students can get tested on campus, including at the Blue Box Theater in the Gatton Student Center. There is also a testing site open to anyone on College Way.
UK’s announcement comes as a third of Kentucky’s hospitals are reporting staff shortages. On Thursday, Kentucky reported over 5,400 new cases of COVID-19, the third-highest single-day increase since the pandemic began.
Lexington’s COVID-19 cases have been increasing as well. The Lexington-Fayette County Health Department reported 278 new cases of COVID-19 on Friday.
As of Aug. 25, there are 123 cases of COVID-19 at UK, up from 37 last week. Students who are not vaccinated were required to submit a COVID-19 test this week and are required to be tested weekly throughout the semester. Blanton said while COVID-19 testing started slow on campus, almost 1,000 students were tested on Thursday. Additionally, 1,000 students are expected to get tested on Friday.
About 75 percent of current students and employees reported they were partially or fully vaccinated Blanton said. The percentage does not include incoming students who will be added to the statistics at the beginning of September.
UK has not required the COVID-19 vaccine. In Kentucky, Berea College, Bellarmine University, Centre College and Transylvania University require students to be fully vaccinated. Bellarmine and Transylvania are also requiring employees to be fully vaccinated.
However, Blanton said conversations about requiring the vaccine are ongoing.
“We have not taken the idea of mandatory vaccinations off the table,” Blanton said. “But we think incentives, testing requirements for our campus at this time ... is the best way to encourage people and move people forward with vaccinations.”
Capilouto is continuing to have discussions about UK’s COVID-19 plan, including a vaccine requirement, with groups across campus.
“We continue to actively consider whether additional measures — such as mandating vaccines across campus for all students, faculty and staff — will be required,” Capilouto said in his email on Thursday. “Such a move may be necessary, but it is complicated, and it must be done thoughtfully as it raises further questions around who is exempted and how the policy is enforced equitably among those impacted, among other things.”
Employees who are vaccinated will be eligible for rewards, including extra vacation time and athletic tickets, Blanton said. Plans for incentives will be finalized next week. There will also be disciplinary measures if someone does not complete the weekly testing.
“All of this is evolving and we’re trying to stay nimble and update our policies as we can to keep our campus healthy and safe,” Blanton said.
The announcement came one day after United Campus Workers, the union for higher education employees in Kentucky, published an open letter calling for more action from university leaders. Among the requests in the letter was the ability for employees to get vaccinated and tested for COVID-19 while at work.
This story was originally published August 27, 2021 at 10:29 AM.