With just over two weeks left to go in the spring semester, University of Arizona students are being asked to complete a survey about their participation in the university's COVID-19 vaccination campaign.

"We're conducting a survey of students at the University of Arizona to measure their interest and participation in the vaccination campaign and to identify and alleviate any barriers they may face," University of Arizona President Robbins C. Robbins said Monday during his virtual weekly briefing.

All students, whether vaccinated or not, are urged to complete the survey today.

Robbins has been encouraging student to get vaccinated before they leave campus for the summer. May 5 is the last day of the spring semester, and final exams will begin May 7. Students received the survey via email on April 15.

To date, the UArizona vaccination POD, or point of distribution, has administered more than 175,000 shots to university students, employees and members of the general public, and appointments continue to be regularly made available.

Early last week, the university saw a dip in the number of people signing up for appointments at the POD, which may be due to declining demand overall, Robbins said. However, the number was back up to nearly 3,500 appointments a day by Friday.

Robbins urged people to keep spreading the word about the importance of getting vaccinated and following basic public health measures.

"We're not out of the woods by a longshot yet," he said.

Thousands of vaccination appointments at the UArizona POD are released every Friday for the following week, and same-day appointments are often available each day. Appointments can be made through the Arizona Department of Health Services website or by calling 844-542-8201 or 602-542-1000. Assistance is available in English or Spanish. Those needing additional help can email covidhelp@arizona.edu with any questions.

The university currently offers a drive-thru vaccination clinic on the University of Arizona Mall, as well as a sit-down clinic in the Ina E. Gittings Building. With temperatures heating up, the university is planning to move all vaccination operations indoors beginning April 30.

An estimated 37.4% of Arizona residents and 35.8% of Pima County residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine, Robbins said. In Pima County, 84.8% of residents 65 and older and 61.3% of those age 55 to 64 have gotten at least one dose.

About 26.3% of people who have gotten vaccinated at the UArizona POD have identified as Hispanic or Latinx. That demographic information is now available on the university's online COVID-19 dashboard.

The COVID-19 positivity rate on the UArizona campus remains low, and the university plans to continue this week and next week in stage 3 of its instructional plan, which allows for courses of up to 100 students to meet in person, Robbins said. From April 12 to April 17, the university administered 6,657 COVID-19 tests, with 39 positives – a positivity rate of 0.59%.

Robbins also encouraged people to participate in the university's antibody testing initiative with the state of Arizona, which will help lead to a better understand of immunity to the virus that causes COVID-19.

The blood-draw antibody test, developed at UArizona, can detect whether a person has COVID-19 antibodies, either as the result of vaccination or previous infection.

People can get more information and sign up for the test at https://covid19antibodytesting.arizona.edu.

"This is a really important research initiative that I think will help us not only understand how individuals are responding to the vaccine and infections but will help guide further utilization of the vaccine," Robbins said.