Week of March 29, 2021
Weekly COVID-19 Update
Sent: April 2, 2021
To the Dickinson community:
This week brought hopeful news from Pennsylvania officials, who announced expanding access to the COVID-19 vaccine.
According to the new regulations, Dickinsonians who fall into Phase 1B are eligible to be vaccinated beginning Monday, April 5. This phase includes faculty and staff who work directly with students. Beginning Monday, April 19, all residents are eligible to start scheduling appointments, including faculty and staff not working directly with students, as well as any student who resides in Pennsylvania. We encourage all students, staff and faculty to get vaccinated as soon as eligible. This is just one more important step to opening our community and getting back to normal.
Please see the state's website for more details, including a page that will let you know where vaccines are available.
Federal and state health officials continue to have serious concerns about the more contagious variants spreading locally as well as nationally. This is a critical time, and everyone must continue to mask, stay physically distant and follow all health and safety guidelines. We have come so far, but we are not yet out of the pandemic.
Vaccination Sites
There are now a number of vaccination providers in the Carlisle area. Weis Markets has reached out to Dickinson and is inviting any of our staff and faculty to sign up for remaining openings in several of their nearby locations that are offering the vaccine. Please do not share the link outside of Dickinson. These clinics are reserved for educators and childcare workers at select locations. Once you access the Weiss site, enter your zip code to find the Weis Markets location most convenient to you. Please try to schedule your appointment as soon as possible.
Cumberland County has joined with Quality Care Pharmacy to establish a large vaccination site at the former K-Mart building. As we shared before, the Cumberland County Department of Public Safety has established a phone bank for the Cumberland County Community Vaccine Clinic at the U-Haul on Walnut Bottom Road to assist residents in scheduling vaccine appointments. Within the first few days of being open and with the announcement of increased eligibility for vaccines, the call volume has been high, and they are in need of more volunteers from the Medical Reserve Corps. Anyone who would be interested in supporting these efforts must sign up through serv.pa.gov. This video will walk you through the process.
Reporting Vaccinated Status
Students who have received both the first and second dose of the vaccine can upload their vaccination card to their patient portal or email it to health@dickinson.edu. Employees can upload their vaccine documentation here. Even if you have been fully vaccinated, ongoing testing is still required.
Support for Our Community
We know that navigating the college experience during the pandemic has been anything but easy. As a reminder, every Wednesday from 5 to 5:30 p.m., all members of the Dickinson community can seek support through Dickinson Copes, a program that allows our community to come together virtually to acknowledge our shared experiences of the pandemic and other issues we have all been facing. In addition, there is now another support opportunity available to students throughout the rest of the semester—Dickinson SOARs! Every Thursday (starting April 1) from 5 to 5:30 p.m., students can access support related to time management, study resources, strategic decision-making and social-emotional wellbeing from the expert staff of SOAR (Strategies, Organization & Achievement Resources), the Wellness Center, Advising, and/or Residence Life & Housing. Please go to the above links in EngageD to add both to your calendars.
You may continue to stay informed by checking our Campus Reopening pages and checking our COVID-19 dashboard, updated daily.
Thank you for your cooperation with and attentiveness to health and safety rules. We have come so far in this semester. Please continue to be careful and to protect and support each other so that we can finish the semester strong.
Sincerely,
Margee M. Ensign
President