Vaccines & Screening

Visit the 2023 Influenza Immunization Page 

April 3, 2023: COVID-19 updates

UCSF offers initial COVID-19 vaccine series as well as the updated COVID-19 boosters to employees and new hires. The new boosters provide improved protection against the most common variants of COVID-19 making people sick today. UCSF doctors recommend this safe and effective updated shot. (If you recently had a COVID vaccine of any type, you need to wait two months before getting the updated booster.) Schedule an appointment now through MyChart or by calling 415-885-7580.

COVID-19 vaccines remain the best public health measure to protect people from the virus, slow transmission and reduce the likelihood of new variants emerging.

Where to get the COVID-19 vaccine

UCSF Occupational Health offers COVID-19 vaccines at its Mount Zion location, 2330 Post St., Suite 460. Vaccination hours are 8–11 a.m. and 1–3 p.m. 

We offer the following vaccine options:

• Pfizer monovalent initial dose (2 dose series)
• Pfizer bivalent booster dose  

COVID-19 vaccine appointment availability can be viewed through MyChart. We strongly recommend making an appointment.

For some employees, it may be more convenient to get the vaccine at their local pharmacy or vaccination clinic. To schedule an appointment, visit your pharmacy's website, your county's vaccine website, California's My Turn, or the national Vaccines.gov site.

Accepted vaccines

• Sinopharm COVID-19 vaccine
• Coronavac COVID-19 vaccine  
• Moderna SARS-COV-2 vaccine
• Pfizer SARS-COV-2 vaccine (Comirnaty)
• Janssen (J&J) COVID-19 vaccine
• AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine
• COVID-19 non-US (Covaxin) (ChAd0x1_nCoV-19)

Immunocompromised employees

You are considered immunocompromised if you:

• Are receiving treatment for tumors or blood cancer
• Have received an organ transplant and are taking medication to suppress your immune system
• Have received a stem cell transplant within the last two years or are taking medicine to suppress your immune system
• Have a condition that moderately or severely impairs immune function
• Have advanced or untreated HIV infection
• Are taking high-dose corticosteroids or other medications that suppress immune function

We recommend following up with your primary care provider to receive your vaccine if you meet this definition. 

Declination

Forms

• COVID-19 Vaccine Declination Form
• Medical Exemption Request Form with Certification from a Health Care Provider
• Religious Request Fillable Form SARS-COV2 

Uploads

• Upload completed declination form
• Upload completed religious exemption form

COVID-19

If you received your COVID vaccination(s) in California, obtain a copy of the record here.

You also can visit an Occupational Health drop-in location during regular business hours.

Other records

To obtain a copy of your immunization record, please complete and sign this form.

If you have an active UCSF mailbox, we can email your immunization record to you. Otherwise, please include a fax number or mailing address, along with a legible phone number in case we need to contact you.

If you would like to obtain a record of your Workers' Comp visits, please visit UCSF Medical Records.

COVID-19 testing

• Testing will continue to be offered in UCSF Health clinics and at many locations in the community.
• Occupational Health and Student Health and Counseling will maintain supplies of antigen tests available to faculty, staff and learners.
• If you need testing guidance for COVID symptoms, exposure, or return to work following COVID infection, visit the Digital Screener or call the COVID Hotline (415-514-7328) for more information.
• If you have any issues obtaining rapid antigen tests for return to work or school, check with Occupational Health Services or Student Health and Counseling Services.
• BCH Oakland employees should email Employee Health or call x3620.

UCSF Occupational Health Services has implemented the TB Flex Program for employees working in UCSF Health. This program, which took effect Jan. 1, 2023, modifies the TB/Tuberculosis screening compliance requirements for  FY 2022-2023 and is being considered for implementation on an ongoing basis.

The annual TB symptom screening questionnaire is on the OHS Portal (MyAccess required). Employees without MyAccess who need assistance filing their annual questionnaire may come to OHS locations during drop-in hours for completion.

The timing for completion will remain the same – once annually during the month that it was completed in the prior calendar year.

What’s new

• All staff and learners working in Health will be required to complete an annual TB symptom screening questionnaire on the OHS Portal.
• Only staff identified by OHS as working in high-risk areas or roles and as having a negative TB skin test (PPD) the previous year will be required to complete both the annual TB symptom screening questionnaire AND an annual TB skin test (PPD).
• PPDs no longer will be mandatory for employees working in areas not deemed as high risk.
• The process and requirements for new hires remains unchanged.

TB Surveillance Program

UCSF requires baseline and annual tuberculosis skin testing for all occupational groups that meet the definitions of Risk Category I and II defined in the UCSF Communicable Disease Surveillance and Vaccination Policy and have contact with patients or human subjects through their work or research in the UCSF Medical Center and Ambulatory Care Clinic practices. Newly hired Medical Center employees must complete the TB screening process prior to their start of employment date. All eligible personnel must participate annually.

Personnel who have tested positive in the past are required to have one baseline chest X-ray and thereafter complete an annual symptom review by dropping by one of our drop-in clinic locations during business hours. Chest X-rays will not be performed annually, but only if indicated based on the clinical presentation. At any time, if any employee has symptoms of TB (persistent cough, low grade fevers, unexplained weight loss, night sweats) further evaluation must be done. Please consult Occupational Health Services.

Occupational Health Services also provides pre-placement TB skin testing for new UCSF employees at Zuckerberg San Francisco General.

Q-fever surveillance involves baseline and annual screening of UCSF employees working with sheep as well as post-exposure assessment as necessary.

The process involves assessing risks for the population, conducting sign and symptom review, drawing titers on employees with past negative or equivocal titers, assessing titer results, recommending medical follow-up if necessary, tracking the data over time to provide historical baseline on serology, and reporting any trends in conversions.