The university strongly encourages all faculty, staff, and students to protect themselves by getting vaccinated. The university’s Campus Plan is a direct result of adoption of the currently authorized COVID-19 vaccines, which are highly effective at protecting vaccinated people against symptomatic and severe COVID-19. COVID-19 vaccines are free and widely available. Those who do not get vaccinated against COVID-19 assume the greater likelihood that they may contract COVID and be required to isolate, might have to quarantine if exposed to someone with COVID, and could suffer severe adverse health consequences associated with COVID.
For information about where to find vaccines locally, please visit the university’s vaccination webpage.
Vaccine FAQs
Are vaccines required at the University of Mississippi?
While the university urges everyone who is eligible to get vaccinated, the Oxford and regional campuses of the University of Mississippi do not currently require the COVID-19 vaccine for employment or enrollment. Further, we are not aware of any current plans by the Mississippi Department of Health to recommend a vaccine mandate or the Mississippi State Institutions of Higher Learning Board of Trustees to create such a requirement for the entire university system.
See updates about the employee vaccine mandate here.
Can I ask someone about their vaccination status?
An individual’s vaccination status is personal health information, and we encourage faculty and staff not to ask individuals about their vaccination status, or any other health information.
Will University Health continue to offer vaccines?
The pharmacy at the Student Health Center (662-915-5279) offers free vaccines on a walk-up basis (no appointment necessary). The pharmacy is open weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. (except Thursdays, when it closes at 4 p.m.). Find more information about on-campus vaccinations plus other places in the community to get vaccinated on the university’s vaccination webpage.
Are vaccines effective?
Yes! The vaccines work as shown by the fact that the overwhelming majority of patients who are hospitalized with COVID and its variant are unvaccinated.
What is the university doing to incentivize vaccinations among students, faculty, and staff? Should we consider rewarding those who have gotten vaccinated as an incentive to those who have not?
We continue to urge everyone to get vaccinated through communications, attestations on MyOleMiss, and more. We have and will continue to offer them for free on campus. Vaccines work. The best incentive to getting vaccinated is avoiding significant health consequences. Additionally, the university gave out t-shirts, Ole Miss swag, and other items to encourage people to get vaccinated. Large incentives have not significantly increased vaccine uptake in the organizations that offered them.
What if I am immunocompromised and can’t be vaccinated?
Per the CDC, COVID-19 vaccines may be administered to most people with underlying medical conditions. This information aims to help people in the following groups make an informed decision about receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. Please reach out to your personal healthcare provider for a personalized recommendation.
How do I protect my unvaccinated children or vulnerable family members?
Per the CDC, these are the best ways to protect your child, or a child you care for, who cannot get vaccinated yet:
- Get vaccinated yourself. COVID-19 vaccines reduce the risk of people getting and spreading COVID-19.
- If your child is 2 years and older, make sure that your child wears a mask in public settings and takes other actions to protect themselves.
- To set an example, you might choose to wear a mask.
- If your child is younger than 2 years or cannot wear a mask, limit visits with people who are not vaccinated or whose vaccination status is unknown and keep distance between your child and others in public.