Just a month after administering the first doses of COVID-19 vaccines to healthcare workers, UK is now expanding their vaccine rollout to include campus employees.

According to reports, some faculty members began receiving email invitations to get their vaccine the morning of Wednesday, Jan. 13, and were able to get their first dose on the same day.

President Capilouto had said earlier in the week that UK was making plans to vaccinate non-healthcare workers, but did not release details on the plans.

UK spokesperson Jay Blanton said the expansion follows state guidelines for distributing doses as quickly as possible, moving to additional phases if needed.

“That includes faculty and staff over the age of 65, custodial and facilities staff who have high levels of in-person interactions on campus each day and members of our student services staff who support students in a number of critical roles,” Blanton said.

He said that UK hopes to announce a centralized vaccine location soon for both healthcare and campus employees.

UK is also in a partnership to vaccinate employees from Fayette County Public Schools.

K – 12 educators are in Phase 1B of Kentucky’s vaccine phase; all essential workers are in Phase 1C.

Blanton said UK is receiving both Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.

“Our goal is to be in alignment with the state’s guidelines of who to vaccinate when – both on our campus and in the broader community — while using the supplies we are given each week as completely and quickly as possible,” Blanton said.

Some UK employees who received the vaccination invite said they did not know why they were selected in the first round, since they did not meet any of the priority criteria.