Dear Students,
We are writing to notify you that students are now able to upload their proof of the COVID-19 vaccine via the Primary Care Health Service Open Communicator website. Instructions can be found in this document; annotated screenshots are also available. This is only for the COVID-19 vaccine; no other immunization documents should be uploaded via this method. Do not upload your vaccination documentation into any Columbia system (their patient portal or ReopenCU). Those records will not be reviewed for compliance by either institution and your access to campus may be affected if your documentation is not in Barnard’s Open Communicator website.
As announced in the April 19 email from Dean Grinage, all students must meet Barnard’s COVID-19 vaccine requirement, which means that they have been vaccinated or have an approved medical or religious exemption. The College has an application process for students who wish to request an exemption and the application can be requested via the Request Form for Exemption Application. As noted on the application, students will be notified by email if their request is approved or denied, or if more information is required; merely submitting the application does not guarantee approval.
Proof of COVID-19 vaccination or an approved exemption will be required by August 15, 2021, (or a week before your first day back on campus, whichever is earlier). This means that you will need to have uploaded your proof of vaccination by that date; your uploaded documentation will be subsequently reviewed and approved documentation will be integrated into your Open Communicator profile.
We understand that students who spent the summer in international locations may not be able to arrive on campus having been fully vaccinated by an FDA-authorized or WHO-listed COVID-19 vaccine. “Fully vaccinated” means that it has been at least 14 days from the final dose. PCHS will work with those students so that they can get their initial dose as soon as possible, including during their Arrival Quarantine. If you do not anticipate that you will arrive to campus fully vaccinated, please inform us via the Incomplete Vaccine Requirement Status Form. (Please complete this form even if you indicated this information in the survey from earlier this summer; we know students’ plans have changed since then.)
Fully vaccinated students will still be required to comply with the College’s move-in testing requirements, as well as the Fall testing requirements, which will be announced in the coming weeks. Unvaccinated students will be informed of the additional precautions that they will be required to follow.
FAQs on the Barnard COVID-19 vaccine website are updated regularly. If you have additional questions about the College’s COVID-19 vaccination policies and procedures, please send them to vaccine@barnard.edu. General inquiries about the College’s pandemic response can be directed to covid19@barnard.edu.
Wishing you a safe and healthy rest of the summer,
Andrea Stagg
Chair, Barnard Vaccine Working Group; Deputy General Counsel & Director of Government Relations and Compliance
MJ Murphy
Executive Director, Student Health and Wellness Programs