COVID-19 Vaccine for Baylor Employees and Learners

The COVID-19 vaccine is currently not required for employees of Baylor College of Medicine. Our employees and learners will have the option to take the vaccine or attest that they did not take it for medical, religious or conscientious exemption.  

Baylor College of Medicine received our first allotment of vaccine and began vaccinating on Dec. 29, 2020. We are following the state guidelines for the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. Many of our affiliate locations received their vaccine allotments before Baylor, and have vaccinated employees that meet the Phase 1A criteria. You should plan to receive your vaccine from the first facility that offers it to you and receive your subsequent dose from the same facility. If you are not vaccinated at an affiliate location, Baylor will plan to vaccinate you. 

The COVID-19 vaccine is designed to teach our immune system how to fight the virus that causes COVID-19. It typically takes a few weeks for the body to build immunity after receiving the vaccination. Typically, vaccine related reactions occur within a few days after receiving the vaccination. Reactions could include fever, headache, fatigue, muscle aches, joint aches, and soreness, redness or swelling at the vaccine site. 
 
Because it takes time to build immunity after vaccination, there is a chance that you may have been exposed to COVID-19 immediately before or after receiving the vaccination, meaning your symptoms may be from infection and not from the vaccine. If you experience any local symptoms such as swelling or soreness at the site of the vaccination, you do not need to stay home. If you experience systemic symptoms such as headache, fatigue, fever or general joint or muscle aches, you will need to use sick time to stay home and protect the Baylor College of Medicine community. If your symptoms last for more than three days, you should be tested for COVID-19. 

Baylor College of Medicine will not require employees to carry proof of vaccination. 

With vaccination efforts underway, Baylor wants to gauge how many of its community members have been inoculated. An update to the COVID-19 Vaccine App has been made to collect that information. This vaccination information will be used for workforce planning.

The app now includes the option to submit a declaration of having received the vaccine. Records of vaccinations received at Baylor will be uploaded for you. For those vaccinated at either Harris Health or Texas Children’s, your declaration will be loaded for you once data is received from those affiliates. Employees and learners who received the vaccination anywhere other than Baylor, Harris Health, or TCH should submit vaccination record through the app.
 

Baylor College of Medicine’s application to be a COVID-19 vaccination site has been approved by the Texas Department of Health and Human Services. Our current allotment of vaccines is from Moderna and we will continue to distribute any other vaccines we receive. During the early phases of deployment, you will likely be limited in vaccine choice by availability. If a vaccine requires two doses, you will need to receive both doses from the same manufacturer since the vaccines are not interchangeable.  

Baylor College of Medicine is committed to distributing the COVID-19 vaccine as quickly as we can. We are following the state guidelines for distribution and have offered vaccine appointment slots to all of our interested Phase 1A employees and learners. Per instruction by the State of Texas, we have now started offering the vaccine to our interested and eligible Phase 1B employees, learners, and patients under our care. If you meet the Phase 1A criteria and would like to receive the vaccine, please complete this survey to indicate your interest in receiving vaccination when eligible by state guidelines. If you are eligible, you will receive an email directed specifically to you. 

Baylor College of Medicine is following the state guidelines for distribution. At this time, we have started offering the vaccine to our interested and eligible Phase 1B employees, learners, and patients under our care. If your family member or loved one meets the Phase 1B criteria and is a patient of Baylor Medicine, please visit our COVID-19 Vaccine Information page for the latest information. If they are not a patient of Baylor Medicine, we encourage them to coordinate their vaccination plans with their healthcare provider.  

Baylor Medicine is vaccinating as soon as we get vaccine from the State. Because of this, we may have to adjust appointments based on future shipments. You do not need to call us about scheduled appointments. You will receive a MyChart message if changes need to be made to your appointment.