COVID-19 Vaccine Eligibility

This email was sent to students by Vice Chancellor for Student Life Frank Cuevas and to employees by Provost John Zomchick and Senior Vice Chancellor for Finance and Administration Chris Cimino on March 25.

Anyone age 16 and older in Knox County is now eligible to receive a COVID-19 vaccination.

This is great news, and we encourage you to get vaccinated as soon as you can.

You have options on and off campus. We urge you to use whichever option helps you get a vaccine dose as soon as possible.

• A variety of distributors, including hospitals, pharmacies, and retail stores, are providing vaccinations. A vaccine locator tool allows you to search your ZIP code to find vaccination appointments near you. Check the vaccine locator tool.
• See utk.edu/coronavirus/vaccine for information on campus vaccinations, including upcoming public vaccine clinics and UT employee and student vaccinations at the Student Health Center.

Appointments next week at the Student Health Center are full because they were assigned to students, faculty, and staff in critical infrastructure areas (resident assistants, College of Veterinary Medicine clinical personnel, and frontline staff in Mail Services and One Stop), but more opportunities at the Student Health Center will be available soon.

We also hope to add an additional public clinic in the next week and plan to continue organizing public clinics this spring.

All university vaccination events are only for people age 18 and older. The Pfizer vaccine is not available through the university and is the only vaccine approved for emergency use in people under age 18.

The university encourages, but does not require, COVID-19 vaccination. Widespread vaccination, along with following health and safety guidelines, is our best path forward from this pandemic. We urge you to get vaccinated as soon as you can and appreciate your continued commitment to keeping our campus community safe and healthy.