Immunization Requirements
All students are required to be compliant with Creighton University’s immunization requirements, unless an approved religious or medical exemption is on file with the University.
Students will be unable to register for classes and receive a housing assignment (if applicable), until all required immunizations are uploaded and verified in The Birdhouse.
COVID-19 Vaccine Requirement:
While Creighton’s COVID-19 vaccination requirement for all students, faculty and staff reporting to the Omaha and Phoenix campuses expires on June 30, 2023, the University continues to strongly encourage all those coming to its campuses to stay up to date on their vaccinations in accordance with Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations.
Effective July 1, 2023, Creighton will continue to require that students, faculty and staff enrolled or working in the health sciences provide documentation of their COVID-19 vaccination primary series or have an approved religious or medical exemption on file with the University prior to coming to campus.
The following are considered health sciences programs at Creighton University and fall under this requirement:
- Dentistry
- House staff medical residents
- Medicine
- Nursing
- Occupational therapy
- Paramedicine/EMS
- Pharmacy
- Physical therapy
- Physician assistant
View further requirement details and to learn more about Creighton’s response to COVID-19.
Immunization Requirements for a Healthy Campus.
Creighton University requires immunization documentation for all students to attend classes on campus
- Non-Health Sciences Students: Students who are not enrolled in a health science program must meet these requirements. After July 1, 2023, non-health sciences students must meet these requirements.
- Health Sciences Students: Students enrolled in a health science program (Dentistry, EMS, Medicine, Nursing, Occupational Therapy, Pharmacy, Physical Therapy, Physician Assistant) must meet these requirements.
Steps to Submit Required Documentation
Locate your immunization records
If you are unsure where to locate your immunization records, we recommend checking these sources:
Your Parents
Many parents maintain vaccine records for their children. In many cases, we can accept a good digital photo of these documents.
Your Doctor or Pediatrician
Your doctor’s office may have a copy of these records on hand. If you turned 18 recently and switched from a pediatrician to a family practice physician, your pediatrician’s office may still have these records. You may need to complete a Release of Information form in order to get those records and that process takes about a week at most doctor’s offices.
Your High School or Previous University
Many states require you to submit your vaccinations in order to maintain enrollment as a high school student. Contact your school and ask them for a copy of your vaccination records. If you are a transfer student, Graduate, Doctoral or Law Student, you may be able to locate the immunizations you submitted to your previous university’s health center.
Your State’s Vaccine Registry
Many doctor’s offices upload vaccines given to children straight to their state’s vaccine information registry system. Many of these systems have online portals for citizens of that state to access their immunization records. Use the information provided on the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s website to locate the contact information for your state’s vaccine registry and contact them to see what records are on file. Remember—they collect information from the physicians in their state only, so if you lived in multiple states when you were a child and the state where you presently reside doesn’t have any information or has incomplete information, you may need to contact the registry for the state where you lived between the ages of one and six years old.
The Military
If you did any kind of military service, you very likely have vaccine records on file with the military. Reach out to your last military healthcare provider for records.
Submit Dates and Upload Documentation
- Log into the BirdHouse using your netid@creighton.edu email address.
- Select the Immunization Tab.
- Enter the dates of all immunizations. Click on the blue bars to see the immunizations listed in each category.
- Select the Upload tab at the top of the page.
- Upload documentation for each immunization. The file name cannot have numbers or special characters like ) ( * & ^ _ - or it will not upload.
Check Missing Requirements
- Select the Immunization tab.
- Select Print.
- Scroll to the bottom to the Missing Requirements section of the report.
Where to Obtain Missing Requirements
- The closest clinic location is the CHI Health Student Care Clinic. To make an immunization appointment, call 402-280-2735 and select option 2.
- Many Walgreens, CVS, and local pharmacies provide immunizations.
- Your primary care doctor’s office also provides immunizations.
Obtaining a Copy of Your Vaccination Record
You can obtain a copy of your record through the BirdHouse by navigating to the Immunization tab and clicking the Print button.
Questions?
Please review the frequently asked questions below, and email any additional questions regarding immunizations to immunizations@creighton.edu.
Yes, you can formally request a medical or religious exemption.
Complete the medical exemption waiver form or religious exemption form and submit to immunizations@creighton.edu for review.
Exemption review and decision notification may take up to seven business days.
Yes, you can formally request a medical or religious exemption. Please visit Creighton's COVID-19 webpage, click on the “Vaccine Exemption Request Forms” tab and follow the instructions.
A titer is a blood draw. The lab report can identify the different kinds and levels of antibodies present in a person’s bloodstream, which can indicate immunity to diseases.
The closest clinic location is the CHI Health Student Care Clinic. To make an immunization appointment, call 402-280-2735 and select option 2.
Many Walgreens, CVS, and local pharmacies provide immunizations.
Your primary care doctor’s office also provides immunizations.
If you are a health science student, this is an annual requirement.
If you are an international student and not a health science student, this is a one-time requirement.
If you are not a health science student and not an international student, this is not a requirement.
If you complete these items, you are considered compliant:
- Upload your negative Hep B Surface Antibody (HBsAB) titer
- Obtain another Hep B vaccine and upload to the Birdhouse
- 30 days after the Hep B Vaccine, attempt another Hep B Surface Antibody Titer (HbsAB) and upload it to the Birdhouse
If you are still not immune:
- Obtain another Hep B vaccine a month from the first and upload to the Birdhouse
- Obtain yet another Hep B vaccine 6 months from first dose and upload to the Birdhouse
- Obtain another Hep B Surface Antibody Titer (HBsAB) 30 days after your last dose and upload to the Birdhouse.
If you are still not immune after completion of two full series of Hep B vaccine, a Hepatitis B Surface Antigen (HBsAG) is required.
T-Spot or QuantiFERON Gold Test meets the requirement (single blood draw, requires 1 office visit)
OR
Two Step TB Skin test (PPD) may be completed (Two Step TB Test requires 4 office visits: see below)
- Visit 1, Day 1: TB/PPD antigen is injected under the skin.
- Visit 2, Day 3: TB/PPD test is read within 48-72 hrs of placement.
- Visit 3, Day 7-21: a second TB/PPD skin test is applied
- Visit 4, 48-72 hours after placement: the second test is read.
- Both TB skin tests must be completed within 28 days.
Make sure the document you are trying to upload does not contain any special characters such as :-_()*&^%
Make sure you followed these steps:
- Scan or take a photo of your documents and send them to your computer. Multiple files must be uploaded separately.
- Use the dropdown menu to indicate the type of document you’re uploading.
- Click Select File and choose the file. Please note:
- File must be smaller than 4 MB (scan in black and white or at a setting of 150 DPI to achieve a smaller file size).
- File must be .gif, .png, .tiff, .jpg, .txt, or .pdf.
- File name cannot include special characters _!@#$%^&*() and must be less than 20 characters.
- Click Upload. Please note:
- If you made a mistake, you can delete the file by clicking the “x” at the end of the document name.
Successfully uploaded documents will appear below the words “Documents already on file.”
If you have tried the locations listed above, you may obtain titers for each requirement:
Measles IgG, Mumps IgG, Rubella IgG, Varicella IgG, and Hepatitis B Surface Antibody Titer (HBsAb) are all available blood draws to check for immunity.
- Vaccination clinics in Douglas County
- Vaccination clinics in Maricopa County
- If you are not on either campus, your local health department is an excellent resource. You can also visit vaccines.gov to find a location near you.
Contact Information
Student Health Education and Compliance Office
P: 402.280.2735
F: 402.280.1859
Care Coordination Questions
studenthealth@creighton.edu
Insurance Questions
studentinsurance@creighton.edu
Immunization Questions
immunizations@creighton.edu