ObieSafe Weekly: May 11, 2021

Watch the commencement livestream

This Friday, Oberlin will host an in-person celebration with two ObieSafe ceremonies held at Bailey Field: one at 9 a.m. and the other at 2 p.m. New York Times journalist and bestselling author Peter Baker will deliver the keynote address. The ceremony will stream live for family and friends. Visit oberlin.edu/commencement for the livestream link.

ObieSafe Weekly moves to campus digest

Beginning the week of May 17, watch for ObieSafe content in the daily campus digest under the red “ObieSafe” banner. Testing and vaccination data will continue to be reported each Tuesday of the week. Questions and comments can still be directed to obiesafe@oberlin.edu.

Vaccine survey for summer term students

Students enrolled in summer 2021 classes are required to complete a brief vaccine survey that was emailed on May 5. The purpose of the survey is to inform the college of your intent related to vaccines. Achieving an 80 percent vaccination rate is critical in order to relax current COVID-19 policies. When you upload your card, you support efforts to return to a more normal college experience. Let’s go the distance by completing this brief survey! Deadline for completing the survey is May 19. You must submit the survey by the deadline to be entered into a raffle for a chance to win one of several cash prizes and a gift card to the Oberlin Bookstore. (You don’t have to be vaccinated to be eligible for the survey drawing.)

COVID testing and move-in is May 20-21

All students who are studying on campus are required to test for COVID-19 upon arrival unless the student is fully vaccinated (two weeks after the second dose of Moderna or Pfizer OR two weeks after one dose of J&J) and has uploaded their vaccination card to the student health portal by May 10; or, the student has a health restriction precluding them from the test. If you must test when you arrive on campus, Hales Gym (180 W. Lorain St.) will be your first stop. Read more about testing and move-in dates for summer term.

International travel questionnaire

Currently, the CDC recommends that anyone (vaccinated or unvaccinated) who travels internationally quarantine for seven days after their arrival and have a COVID-19 test on day 3-5. The test result does not decrease the length of stay in quarantine. Oberlin follows CDC recommendations, so quarantine and testing will be required. Those who are fully vaccinated must still follow CDC recommendations. Oberlin will modify guidelines if the CDC changes its recommendations.

If you plan to travel internationally between May 12 and your arrival on campus, you must complete this questionnaire. Specific instructions will be provided to you based on your vaccination status and your date of arrival in the United States. Please note that the CDC has not provided guidelines for vaccines obtained in other countries that do not have U.S. Emergency Use Authorization. As a result, quarantine guidelines are subject to change as additional information becomes available. Monitor your email for updates.

Outdoor masks and distancing still in effect

One of our public health challenges on campus is that we do not know who has been fully vaccinated and who has not. That is why it is so important that everyone upload their vaccination cards (to Human Resources for faculty and staff, and to Student Health for students). Once at least 80 percent of our campus population provides this proof that they are fully vaccinated, we can safely re-evaluate our ObieSafe policies, including the policy of wearing a mask outdoors. Until we exceed our vaccination goal, the outdoor mask policy and other ObieSafe policies remain in effect.

Process for uploading your vaccine card

Students, faculty and staff who are two weeks post-vaccination (after two doses of Moderna/Pfizer: or one dose of Johnson & Johnson) should upload their vaccine card as soon as possible. This documentation will establish the percent of campus herd immunity, which indicates that a large part of the campus is protected. The information facilitates decision-making regarding return to “normal” activities.

Students

1. Open your Student Health Portal by clicking on the link from the OC Student Health website or through Oberview (Medicat).
2. Click on the IMMUNIZATION tab, click Enter Dates, and scroll down to COVID-19 vaccine. Enter the date(s) you had the vaccine administered. SUBMIT.
3. Take a picture of your immunization card given to you at the time of vaccination. Click on the UPLOADS tab, select Immunization record, click Select File and choose the verification of your COVID-19 vaccine to submit. UPLOAD.

Faculty/staff

1. Take a picture of your COVID-19 vaccination card and save it to your computer or Android device (Note: You cannot use an iPhone or iPad to submit your card).
2. Navigate to OberView in Firefox, Chrome, Edge, or Internet Explorer from a computer or Android device and click on the Upload COVID-19 Vaccination Record Card task.
3. Read the instructions, fill out the form, attach the image of your card, and click Submit.

Once reviewed by Human Resources, you will receive a notification that your card has been accepted or rejected. Rejection reasons may include attaching the incorrect image, the image being unreadable, or entering vaccination information on the form that is different than what is on the card.

Get in touch with the ObieSafe team

Have something to share in a future issue of ObieSafe Weekly? Email obiesafe@oberlin.edu with story ideas or information you’d like to have considered for publication.

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