UA reports faculty vaccination rates in first update since April

Jack Maurer | @JackMaurer10, Chief Copy Editor

The University of Alabama System updated its online COVID-19 dashboard for the first time since April to report testing and vaccination data from its three campuses.

The UA System added vaccination data to the dashboard on Tuesday, but the number of doses reported for The University of Alabama was inaccurate due to a “data feed error,” UA spokesperson Shane Dorrill said. The correct figure was posted Wednesday morning.

According to the dashboard, about 15,600 doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered through The University of Alabama’s medical facilities. Some 600 of those doses have been delivered since June 15, based on data previously reported to The Crimson White by UA spokesperson Deidre Stalnaker.

Most of the 283,000 doses administered across the UA System are from the University of Alabama at Birmingham, which has a hospital. 

The dashboard also shows employee vaccination rates at each university. At both The University of Alabama and UAB, about 72% of faculty and staff have gotten at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The employee vaccination rate at the University of Alabama in Huntsville is somewhat lower, at 63%.

All three figures are substantially higher than the vaccination rate for the state as a whole. About 47% of Alabamians have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine.

The UA System has not released vaccination rates for students.

For testing, the dashboard reports that 56 students and 26 faculty and staff members tested positive for COVID-19 between Aug. 9 and 15. Like last year, the dashboard does not display the total number of tests conducted for students or employees.

The University of Alabama is no longer conducting random COVID-19 tests, called sentinel tests, which were mandatory last year for students living on campus or participating in certain activities.