To the University community,

I am pleased to share some exciting news with you. Starting next week, you’ll be hearing this a lot: Don’t miss your shot to receive the COVID-19 vaccine!

You may have already seen the first of our signage, social media posts and other efforts to spread the word about the expanded vaccine clinic that will operate in the Student Union Atrium from Monday, April 12 through Friday, April 16.  

Appointment times will be from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, with extended hours (9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.) on Tuesday. You need to first schedule an appointment, which can be done here. It is critical that you make an appointment, since there will be a priority placed on the doses we have, so none of them are wasted. MTSU Student Health Services is gearing up to deliver 60 student vaccines per hour – and they are ready to ramp up availability with demand.

If you can’t come to the Student Union Atrium next week, we’ll resume vaccine opportunities, starting Monday, April 19, from the Rec Center Atrium.

We highly encourage students to get the vaccine to protect themselves and their family and friends. Also this: The CDC says anyone who is fully vaccinated — and comes in contact with someone with the coronavirus — will no longer have to quarantine. This means the more of us who receive the vaccine, the more likely we are able to hold and expand in-person activities this fall.

Meanwhile, again, it is imperative that we finish strong this semester by remaining cautious and careful in our individual actions in fighting the pandemic. Our mandates for wearing face masks inside campus buildings, maintaining social distancing, and observing COVID-19 protocols and event capacity remain in full force for this semester.

As you know, we announced our intentions to return to a more normal fall term. We will carefully watch the evolving CDC guidelines, as well as directives from other federal and state health officials. We will issue additional guidance later in the summer about masks and any other COVID restrictions that will be in place.

I appreciate all you are doing to stay safe and help us stay on course.

Sincerely,
Sidney A. McPhee
President
Sidney.McPhee@mtsu.edu