Moving Forward

COVID-19 Testing

Cyclones Care

Iowa State strongly encourages students, faculty and staff to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The Iowa Board of Regents announced in April that the regent universities will not mandate vaccinations for any student or employee for the 2021-22 academic year. 

Update (Nov. 10, 2021): Board of Regents President Michael Richards has directed the regent institutions to make vaccination verification and accommodation systems available to all campus employees on a voluntary basis. Read more in his letter to the campus community. If you have questions, please access this COVID-19 Vaccination Verification FAQ. 

Iowa State vaccination clinics

Iowa State’s Thielen Student Health Center (TSHC) offers free COVID-19 vaccination clinics for students. Students should schedule an appointment online or call 515-294-5801 and bring their ISUCard to the clinic. TSHC has the Pfizer vaccine available.

• Clinic hours: 9 a.m. – 4:30 p.m., Monday-Friday at TSHC Clinic Pharmacy

Pfizer booster shots also are available for students who meet the CDC guidelines (more detail below). Students who received Pfizer for their primary vaccine series must wait at least six months after their primary vaccine (six months starts two weeks after second dose) before receiving a booster. Students who received Johnson & Johnson as their primary vaccine series are eligible at least two months after their shot.

Employees who need their initial vaccine series or a booster are encouraged to contact their medical provider. For additional vaccine options: Search vaccines.gov, text your ZIP code to 438829, or call 1-800-232-0233 to find locations near you.

Who’s eligible for a booster?

Anyone 18 years or older is now eligible for a booster shoot. If you received the two-dose Pfizer or Moderna vaccine for your primary series, you must wait at least six months before getting a booster. If you received Johnson & Johnson as your primary vaccine, you must wait at least two months. 

The CDC recommends all authorized vaccines for a booster, regardless of which one you received for your primary series.   

Vaccination FAQ

• Find answers to questions about vaccines and vaccination distribution at Iowa State.

Area and statewide vaccination information

• McFarland Clinic (Ames and area locations)
• Story County Public Health
• State of Iowa public health agencies
• VaccineFinder.org (via CDC.gov)
• Avoid vaccine scams: ISU Extension and Outreach resources to protect yourself and loved ones

Get the facts

About the COVID-19 vaccine

Iowa Department of Public Health (IDPH)

• COVID-19 vaccine information
• Vaccination dashboard

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

• COVID-19 vaccine information and chatbot
• Vaccine facts
• Vaccination tracker

Authorized vaccines

• Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine, safety data (PDF) (approved for age 12 and above)
  • FDA granted full approval on Aug. 23, 2021
• Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, safety data (PDF) (approved for age 18 and above)
• Johnson & Johnson (Janssen), fact sheet (PDF) (approved for age 18 and above)

What to expect

• After receiving a COVID-19 vaccine
• Possible side effects, adverse events

Reporting

• V-safe: The CDC's smartphone-based, after-vaccination health checker for people who receive COVID-19 vaccines. V-safe uses text messaging and web surveys from the CDC to check in with vaccine recipients following COVID-19 vaccination. V-safe also provides second vaccine dose reminders if needed, and follow-up calls to anyone who reports medically significant adverse events.
• Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS): The national system that collects reports from healthcare professionals, vaccine manufacturers, and the public of adverse events that happen after vaccination; reports of adverse events that are unexpected, appear to happen more often than expected, or have unusual patterns are followed up with specific studies.