Dean's Office Communication on COVID-19 - 2021-03-05

Greetings MSUCOM faculty and staff,

Many of you have been interested in receiving periodic updates on COVID-19 vaccination rates among our student body, as well as general availability.

Approximately 90% of our third-and fourth-year students have received both doses of the vaccine, most commonly through their assigned clinical site. We estimate that up to one-third of our first- and second-year students have received at least the first dose. The majority of these latter vaccinations have been received through county health departments, including Ingham and Macomb, as well as the City of Detroit.

The college continues to follow university and MDHHS directives that clearly allow medical students to receive the vaccine where available as part of their being a health care provider, high-priority group. The initial focus was to vaccinate students who were already in clerkship/hospital settings, and then work to ensure that first- and second-year students may receive the vaccine prior to their various forms of clinical assignments.

We will provide additional updates as appropriate.

As a reminder, please visit the MDHHS website and the MSU Together We Will site for the latest information on general vaccine eligibility and availability.

Sincerely,

Kirsten Waarala, DO, FACOI, FAODME
Associate Dean for Medical Education

Andrea Amalfitano, DO, PhD
Dean, MSU College of Osteopathic Medicine