Health, testing and vaccines

If you are not feeling well

If you are sick with any potential illness, you must stay home, regardless of your vaccination status.

COVID-19’s most common symptoms are fever, cough and shortness of breath. If you’re symptomatic, take the following steps to protect yourself and your loved ones:

Get tested and stay home until you receive your test result.

  • Husky Coronavirus Testing participants: Report your symptoms in the daily survey to receive testing instructions. You will hear from the UW COVID-19 Response and Prevention Team if you test positive.
  • If you are not enrolled in Husky Coronavirus Testing, you can still sign up for testing through the program, or access testing through public testing sites, pharmacies, or potentially your health care provider. To protect the health of other people, do NOT visit a doctor’s office, urgent care clinic or other health facility without notifying them that you may have COVID-19.

If you have confirmed or suspected COVID-19, immediately notify the UW COVID-19 Response and Prevention Team at covidehc@uw.edu or 206.616.3344. UW medical center personnel should contact their respective employee health services.

Follow public health guidelines to help you recover and protect loved ones from getting sick. Stay home, stay masked and stay 6 feet away from other people and pets whenever possible. For more about the steps you’ll need to take, see our FAQ, “What do I do if I have confirmed or suspected COVID-19?”

You can also learn more from Public Health – Seattle & King County and the Washington State Department of Health.

If you think you have COVID-19 or have come in contact with someone who has been diagnosed with COVID-19

  • Stay home. Do not go to campus. Avoid public places.
  • Call your health provider and follow their advice. Students can also use CHI Virtual Urgent Care.
  • STUDENTS:
    • Email Dr. Bernard Anderson, Associate Vice Chancellor for Student Life, at bander48@uw.edu, to learn of available support services and the procedure for academic accommodation.
  • FACULTY AND STAFF:
    • Contact UW’s COVID-19 Response & Prevention Team at covidehc@uw.edu or 206-616-3344.

Getting tested for COVID-19

The following COVID-19 testing options are provided at no cost to you.

Husky Coronavirus Testing program: We strongly encourage participation among employees and students. If you are not enrolled, you can still sign up now to be tested.

Free testing is also available through local public health departments:

Additional testing options
  1. UW Medicine offers testing for current patients. Visit the patient portal to make an appointment.
  2. Some pharmacies offer COVID-19 testing that is billed to your health insurance.
  3. Your personal health care provider may be able to arrange testing.

Multilingual information about COVID-19 testing options is available from the Washington State Department of Health.

Getting vaccinated

In order to protect the health and safety of our community, the University of Washington is requiring all students and employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19, with limited exemptions allowed.

  • Students and UW personnel will need to attest to being fully vaccinated or declare an exemption.
  • All students and personnel should get vaccinated as soon as possible, wherever they are currently living. Vaccines authorized by the United States, by the World Health Organization or by other nations will meet this requirement.
  • Vaccinations will be available this fall if students and employees can’t get vaccinated where they currently live.

More information on COVID-19 vaccines

Other health resources

Much more information on health, wellness and prevention is available on the UW central coronavirus FAQ.