Booster requirement compliance

This message was sent to students who were not eligible to receive the COVID-19 booster vaccination before the semester began.

Bottom Line, Up Front:

• Wake Forest requires documentation of the COVID-19 booster vaccination within two weeks of students becoming eligible to receive one.
• After you become eligible, if you do not provide documentation, you will be unenrolled from your courses and removed from University-sponsored housing (if applicable).

Dear student, 

We hope that your semester is off to a healthy and productive start. 

As you know, Wake Forest policy requires you to provide documentation of the COVID-19 booster vaccination. This should be done as soon as you are eligible and must be done within two weeks of you becoming eligible.

Individuals are eligible to receive the booster two months after receiving the Johnson and Johnson vaccination or five months after receiving the Pfizer or Moderna vaccination, per new CDC recommendations. For purposes of complying with Wake Forest’s policy, students are required to provide documentation of having received the booster within two weeks after the six-month mark from when the second dose was received. However, Wake Forest encourages students to receive the booster as soon as possible after five months.

Please check your vaccination card for your eligible date and make an appointment. In Winston-Salem, off-campus vaccination opportunities are available with Forsyth County Public Health Department, Wake Forest Baptist Health, Novant Health, Walgreens, CVS and other sources. 

If you have already received your booster and have submitted this documentation through the Student Health portal in the last 24-48 hours, thank you for doing so. Your submission is being reviewed. 

Testing positive before receiving the booster

• If your booster eligibility date was before the spring semester began and you tested positive for COVID-19 before receiving the booster, you already should have shared that positive result with the Student Health Service and received an adjusted eligibility date for getting the booster. 
• If your booster eligibility date is during the spring semester and you test positive for COVID-19 before receiving the booster, you must share documentation of your positive test result with SHS to request an adjusted eligibility date for getting the booster. The request must be submitted before your deadline for submitting documentation of a booster.

If you do not provide documentation within the two-week grace period after your eligibility date: 

The University Registrar will begin the process to remove you from your courses, and Residence Life and Housing will begin the process to remove you from University-assigned housing (if applicable). 

If you are removed from courses and housing, if applicable, you may be withdrawn from the University for the remainder of the semester. If withdrawn, you will be subject to the University’s refund policy for withdrawal, which means you will not be able to receive financial aid, and you will lose any federal work-study assignments. If you are an international student, please note that withdrawal from your courses will negatively impact your visa status.

Submitting your documentation

When you have received your booster, please submit documentation through the Student Health Portal as soon as possible so that it can be reviewed and approved before the deadline. You will stop receiving messages regarding the booster once it is approved. 

You also can submit a request for a medical or religious exemption, which is specific to the COVID-19 booster. Note that a medical exemption request requires your doctor to provide a detailed explanation of why you should be exempt or a medical reason for an extension, if needed; please give your doctor’s office sufficient time to complete the form. Please also allow enough time for our medical director and/or infectious disease consultant to review and make a decision regarding your request. 

Checking your documentation

Please allow at least 48 hours from when you submitted your documentation, then log into the Student Health Portal. The status of your documentation will be available in the Student Health Portal under My Profile – Immun. History. If you see the booster listed (along with the date you received it) on your Immun. History page, this means that your documentation has been reviewed and accepted, and that you’re in compliance with the policy. 

The status of an exemption request will also be available in My Profile – Immun. History. Submitting early will allow Student Health time to review it before the deadline. 

Please do not email shs@wfu.edu or covid19@wfu.edu to ask if your documentation upload was received; you will need to check your own status using the directions above.

If you have questions, please submit them through the Our Way Forward website.

If you believe you received this email in error, please email covid-compliance@wfu.edu with your reasoning. 

Thank you in advance for taking the steps needed to prioritize health and safety and to comply with University policy.