Dear Colleagues,

The State of North Carolina has announced that individuals in the remainder of Group 3 (frontline essential workers who must be in-person at their place of work) will now be eligible for COVID-19 vaccinations beginning this week.

For Duke, this means that approximately 600 faculty and staff who meet the Group 3 eligibility criteria will be invited to receive the vaccination this week, including all Duke housekeepers, dining staff, and faculty who are teaching face to face on-site. Other employees who meet the criteria for Group 3, such as researchers working in labs, teaching assistants, Student Affairs staff in student-facing roles, dining contract staff and staff supporting our on-site COVID support activities, will be invited for vaccination in the coming weeks, as supply becomes available.

The number of eligible individuals invited to get the vaccine each week will depend entirely upon the amount of vaccine allocated from the State to Duke Health. Supplies continue to be limited and will vary from week to week. Based on our experience with Duke Health staff, we expect that it could take as long as three months to provide vaccinations to all Duke University employees who are eligible in Group 3, and we ask for your patience as we move through this process.

As a reminder, the criteria for eligibility and the amount of vaccine available are both controlled by the State of North Carolina, not Duke University or Duke Health. The availability of the vaccine will continue to dictate how many and when eligible faculty and staff will be invited for vaccination. In addition, Duke Health is still prioritizing those individuals in Group 1 and Group 2 who have not yet received their vaccinations.

If you are eligible under Group 3, you can also sign up for vaccination at non-Duke hospitals, local public health departments, pharmacies and other providers, and we encourage you to explore these options as well.

While beginning to vaccinate faculty and staff on campus is an incredibly positive development and is one more way to protect our community, it is going to require patience and ongoing compliance with public health recommendation of wearing a mask, maintaining social distance, and frequent hand washing to keep everyone safe as we see our way to the end of this pandemic. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Kyle Cavanaugh
Vice President, Administration

Carol Epling, MD, MSPH
Director, Employee Occupational Health and Wellness

Gail Shulby, RN, MA, CPPS
Chief of Staff to the Executive Vice President, Duke Health

Cameron R. Wolfe, MBBS (Hons), MPH, FIDSA
Associate Professor of Medicine, Infectious Diseases, Duke Health

Co-Leaders of the Duke COVID Vaccination Work Group