Note: This letter originally appeared as an email sent to the Hopkins community on July 23, 2021.
Dear Faculty, Students, and Staff:
The deadline for JHU affiliates—faculty, postdoctoral fellows, undergrad/grad students, and staff, including bargaining unit members—to comply with Johns Hopkins’ mandate by uploading their documentation of COVID vaccination is Aug. 1. Almost 60,000 people throughout Johns Hopkins have their vaccination documentation recorded already—some by uploading it themselves, others by having it uploaded automatically because they were vaccinated at JHM—but we have a ways to go to get our campus community ready to come together again.
If you have not done so, we encourage you to use the Vaccination Management System to submit your documentation as soon as possible.
All JHU affiliates are required to register their vaccination status. Please note that faculty, students, and staff at the School of Medicine are governed by the policies and deadlines of Johns Hopkins Medicine. Employees and students who have submitted documentation verifying that they are fully vaccinated against COVID (two weeks following their final dose) will no longer be required to wear a mask indoors on Johns Hopkins University property or at JHU worksites.
Fully remote individuals, including staff and online students who are working or studying 100% remotey, are exempt from the vaccination mandate. Those who are on-campus at any time (e.g., for a meeting) or those who travel or represent JHU in the community – even if it’s not on a JHU campus – are required to be vaccinated. This applies to students taking online classes who may be participating in residencies or field studies as part of their program.
How to use the VMS
You must use the VMS to submit your documentation for COVID-19 vaccination by Aug. 1. You will also be required to use the same system later this fall to submit proof of flu vaccination.
The VMS will ask you to upload a photo of your vaccination card or other formal documentation of vaccination. The photo must clearly show, in English, your name and that you have been fully vaccinated. For those who have received a two-dose vaccine (e.g., Pfizer or Moderna), your documentation must indicate that you have received your second dose. Affiliates who have received a WHO-authorized vaccine overseas will need to upload a certified English translation of the documentation. If you were vaccinated through a JHM clinic, your documentation may be automatically recorded; if so, you will have received an email explaining that you do not need to upload your documentation.
Please note, an exception category is available in the VMS allowing those who are pregnant or trying to conceive to request an exception to the vaccination mandate. You may also apply for a medical or religious exception using the VMS.
Additional instructions for using the VMS are on the coronavirus information website. If you encounter any problems, please email VMS@jhu.edu or stop by the testing center at the Glass Pavilion on the Homewood campus (Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.) for in-person assistance.
Compliance monitoring through Prodensity
We will continue to use the Prodensity app to monitor compliance with JHU COVID safety policies, including the vaccination mandate. If an affiliate is not compliant with the vaccination mandate or the masking and COVID testing requirements associated with an approved exception to the mandate, they will receive a red campus pass and will not be able to access campus and/or JHU resources.
If you are 100% remote and will never be visiting JHU or traveling on behalf of JHU, you do not need to apply for an exception (or do anything else in a JHU system) if you are not vaccinated, however, we encourage you to consider vaccination and to upload your status to VMS should your situation change in the future.
Click here or email testinginfo@jhu.edu for help with getting and using Prodensity and a tutorial on how to ensure your status is up-to-date. Those who have not yet downloaded Prodensity can do so here. Those who already have the app should make sure they have updated to the latest version.
More information
Details about how to get vaccinated, who needs to get vaccinated, and how to apply for an exception to the mandate can be found on JHU’s covid information website along with updated FAQs. If you can’t find the answer to your question there, you may email VMS@jhu.edu.
Please submit your vaccine documentation as soon as possible so we can bring our community back together safely and quickly this fall.
Sincerely,
Stephen Gange
Professor and Executive Vice Provost for Academic Affairs