Statement from JCUMSA

Dear JCU Med Family,

Please see below a very important announcement from the QLD Chief Health Officer regarding COVID vaccinations and student placements.

• From 8pm on 7th July 2021, students who are not fully vaccinated (i.e. had 2 doses of either Pfizer or AstraZeneca) will NOT be allowed to enter a vulnerable facility (Hospital, residential aged care, disability accomodation service, or correctional centre) for the purposes of placement.
• The term vulnerable facility means any facility deemed vulnerable by the Queensland Government. For the purposes of JCU Students, this includes The Townsville University Hospital as well as facilities in the South East Corner, which may impact students currently on elective/rural placements. Further clarification will be given to students from the College of Medicine & Dentistry.
• If you cannot receive the vaccinations due to contraindication or you object to receiving the vaccination, you will not be allowed to go on placement in vulnerable facilities. If you have only had one dose of either vaccinations, you will also not be allowed to enter a vulnerable facility until you have received your second dose.
• As of current, the Townsville area is expected to be removed as having vulnerable facilities as of 6pm July 16th 2021, however this is subject to change pending the COVID-19 situation across the state
• If you are fully vaccinated against COVID-19, you must provide proof of this to JCU by 10am tomorrow, otherwise you will not be able to continue your placement. Dropboxes will be made available on LearnJCU to submit your proof of vaccination details. Details on how to obtain proof of your COVID vaccination will be given by the CMD.

JCUMSA is aware that many students have questions regarding remediation of placement time and mandatory placement requirements. The CMD have taken this into consideration, and further info will be available per the incoming announcement from staff. This announcement was scheduled to be released this morning, however, as it is being sent to students in all health disciplines there has been some delay.

If you have immediate questions in the meantime, please feel free to contact the JCUMSA President. Otherwise, please await instructions from the College via email and LearnJCU.

Information Provided by James Cook University – Email Sent 6th July 2021

Dear Students,

This is an urgent communication to all students currently on clinical placement.

Queensland Health has advised universities that as of 8:00pm, Wednesday, 7 July students must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 (i.e. have had both doses of either the Astra Zeneca or Pfizer vaccine) before they may be permitted to enter a facility located in a restricted area.

The current list of restricted areas can be found here and include:
Townsville University Hospital as well as a number of facilities in the South East region.

These restrictions are expected to be in place until 6:00pm, Friday, 16 July, pending the COVID-19 situation across the State.

As such, we need to ensure that all students meet Queensland Health requirements for placements.

We are asking all students currently on clinical placements at a site in a restricted area to log on to LearnJCU to complete the COVID-19 Vaccination Information Form and upload your vaccination certificates or immunization history statement to the relevant Dropbox on LearnJCU by 10:00am, Wednesday 7 July.

If you are waiting to have your second vaccination, please enter that date in the ‘second vaccination’ section so that we are aware of how long it will be until you are fully vaccinated.

You will be contacted later tomorrow by the university to advise as to whether you are able to continue your current placement or not, and if not, what the next steps are.

Any students currently on clinical placement in a restricted facility who have not uploaded their statements by 10:00am Wednesday 7 July will be considered unvaccinated.

We strongly encourage all to students get the COVID-19 vaccination. Students are in the 1B cohort and most vaccination clinics will have priority appointments available for you.

If you are not currently on a clinical placement, we strongly advise that you upload your COVID vaccination information to InPlace as soon as possible.

Thank you for your assistance with this and we will keep you updated with any changes as they come available.

For more information, please contact DTHM Administration at [email protected]

Regards,

James Cook University

CRICOS Provider Code 00117J (QLD)