Employee incentives help vaccine take hold at UW

On May 24, the requirements for social distancing and the wearing of masks at the University of Wyoming were lifted, following action by the Wyoming Department of Health.

Effective on that day the university is now only recommending masks and distancing for those who have not been vaccinated for COVID-19, continuing UW’s transition to a traditional fall 2021 semester.

As of May 24, 2,045 of UW’s 2,928 full-time, benefited employees — 70 percent — had reported having received at least one dose of the vaccine. Adding in non-benefited workers, 3,181 of 6,101 employees — 52.1 percent — had reported receiving at least one dose. During an appearance on Sheridan Media’s Public Pulse,

Director for Institutional Communications Chad Baldwin told listeners they suspect it may be more. 

The university does not require employees to be vaccinated and the university does not require employees to report if they have been vaccinated or not. Instead, employees can decide if they chose to report their vaccine information to the university. 

As an incentive to employees, UW began entering the names of employees who had reported they have been vaccinated into a weekly drawing for prizes. 

Students who receive their COVID-19 vaccinations should upload documentation to the Student Health Service patient portal as soon as their vaccine series is complete. This is as simple as taking a photo of the vaccination document and uploading the picture here: http://patientportal.uwyo.edu, using their regular UW user ID and password.