UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Penn State students who have not shared with the University proof that they are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 will continue to have to test weekly for the disease throughout the spring 2022 semester. Penn State’s indoor masking policy also will remain in effect into the spring 2022 semester. University officials will continue to monitor the evolution of the pandemic and the spread of various coronavirus variants and will adjust Penn State’s mitigation efforts as conditions evolve.
Full vaccination is currently defined as having received two doses of the Pfizer or Moderna vaccine or one dose of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine. International vaccines that are emergency-use-listing-approved by the World Health Organization are also accepted. Students who received a vaccine outside of the U.S. should check with University Health Services on the international vaccines that are accepted.
Beginning Jan. 10, students who have not shared with the University that they are fully vaccinated will receive an email each Monday throughout the semester to remind them to be tested and have until the following Sunday to complete a University-administered COVID-19 test. A negative result from a test administered outside of the University will not be accepted.
At University Park, drop-in testing will be available Sunday through Friday at the White Building for students who are required to test, as well as those who believe they may have been exposed to COVID-19. The White Building testing site also will be open on move-in weekend, January 7th, 8th and 9th, and students who test on those days will be considered to have fulfilled their testing requirement for the first week of the semester.
At other campus locations, tests will either be distributed from a location on campus or ordered via mail from Vault Health. Students should check with their campus Student Affairs staff to learn how to obtain and complete a test on their campus. The weekly email will also contain a link that provides students additional details for their campus testing process.
Students who receive a positive result will be referred to isolation and the University’s contact tracing process will commence. Students who must isolate — whether on or off campus — will have support from the University to help them continue their studies uninterrupted, maintain their physical and mental health and stay connected to others.
Compliance mechanisms will be in place to encourage those who are required to be tested to do so. Details on compliance will be shared closer to or at the beginning of the spring semester.
Students at University Park, Commonwealth Campuses and Dickinson Law, who have not yet done so, can upload their proof of vaccination into the MyUHS portal and are encouraged to do so as soon as their vaccine series is complete. World Campus students can provide their proof of vaccination to the University using SalesForce Health Cloud, a secure online platform for collecting health data.
All three COVID-19 vaccines authorized in the U.S. are readily available at hospitals, urgent care centers, doctor’s offices and pharmacies. Providers can be easily located by visiting Vaccines.gov.