We know you have many questions about the COVID-19 vaccines. We’re working hard to deliver answers. The information on this page will evolve as we get more insight into vaccine data and distribution plans.
View the following information from Nebraska Medicine:
Colleague, provider and student vaccinations
Who
- All Nebraska Medicine and UNMC employees and clinical students fall into phase 1a of the CDC guidelines.
- Within the organization, everyone has been assigned a level based on their risk of exposure through their job function.
- Level 1 and 2 colleagues and students provide care or interact directly with patients/specimens.
- Everyone else who is employed by Nebraska Medicine or UNMC falls into level 3.
What
- 77% of level 1 and 2 colleagues and clinical students will have received at least their first dose by the end of January.
- Scheduling is underway for employees in level 3.
- If you want to receive a vaccine as part of the CDC phase 1a, you should make an appointment now as future allocations are not guaranteed.
- If you do not want to receive a vaccine or have received it elsewhere, update your information in the Health Tracking System.
- Volunteers will continue to be needed for clinics.
Where
- All employee vaccination clinics will remain in lower Storz Pavilion.
- The Universal Swab Center (site at 144th street and Millard Avenue) will not offer colleague vaccine clinics at this time, but may be used for new colleague vaccinations after mass vaccination clinics are complete.
When
- Colleague vaccinations clinics started in mid-December and are expected to continue through February. Additional first-dose clinics will only be added as allocations allow.
How to sign up
- If you are in level 1, 2 or 3 (employed by Nebraska Medicine or UNMC), you can sign yourself up at this link. Be sure to let your leader know that you have made an appointment.
- Follow these instructions:
- Days that have available appointments appear in black. Those that are full are gray.
- Click on a date to schedule, then chose the time in the right-hand column.
- Add your name, email address and your phone number.
- Select "Book" at the bottom of the page.
Important items of note
- The medical center is not using employee health information as part of the classification, so if individuals have had COVID-19 or have a condition that puts them at higher risk for contracting COVID-19 or having severe disease, these considerations were not factored into the matrix.
- Leaders are being asked to schedule their teams in a staggered fashion in order to minimize any impact on staffing/operations should they experience any side effects (e.g., malaise, fatigue, fever) from receiving the vaccine. For example, the entire emergency department would not be vaccinated on a given day in order to ensure adequate staffing in the event that colleagues experience an adverse reaction.
- Demand for the vaccine will exceed supply for the near future, however, the medical center anticipates regular shipments of vaccines over the coming weeks and months.
- Vaccinations will be tracked and documented in the Health Tracking System as is done with influenza and tuberculosis tracking.
- There is no timeline yet for when a vaccine would be available to the general public, though it could be several months.
- Even after receiving the vaccine, all personnel must continue to wear masks, avoid crowds, social distance, wash hands and follow outlined policies and procedures.
- Both the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine and the Moderna vaccine require two doses. Pfizer’s is separated by 21 days; Moderna, 28 days. Individuals will need to receive both doses from the same manufacturer; they cannot be mixed.