COVID-19 and Flu Vaccines

Updated January 11, 2023

The Pitt Vaccination and Health Connection Hub

All COVID-19 boosters, first doses (ages 3+) and second doses are available at the Pitt Vaccination and Health Connection Hub, conveniently located on the Pittsburgh campus, next to University Pharmacy. Appointments preferred. Register here today! Walk-ins welcome based on unfilled appointments.

Spring Term 2023 Hours:

Mondays: noon - 7 p.m.
Tuesdays: noon - 5 p.m.
Wednesdays: 10 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Thursdays: noon - 7 p.m.
Fridays: noon - 5 p.m.

Last appointment is half an hour before close. Expanded or adjusted hours may be offered periodically. Walk-ins are accepted for all COVID-19 and flu vaccines, subject to availability, but it’s always best to make an appointment. The Hub staff recommend budgeting ~60-90 minutes for walk-ins, as wait times for walk-ins can be highly variable depending on patient flow. If you are not able to be seen as a walk in, staff onsite may be able to help you schedule an appointment for another day.

Vaccines and updated (bivalent) boosters are widely available at local pharmacies and physician offices. Check out Allegheny County Health Department’s vaccine provider map for resources and locations, call your local pharmacy or health care provider for guidance, or visit UPMC's COVD-19 vaccine scheduling system.

Location

4041 Fifth Avenue, at the base of Nordenberg Hall.
Easily accessible by Port Authority bus.
Free parking for clinic visitors is in Soldiers & Sailors garage. Enter from Bigelow Boulevard.

Appointment Registration

Register for an Appointment

The steps to schedule an appointment at The Hub are streamlined through Pitt Passport. There are a few alternative login pathways depending on your affiliation with Pitt and whether you have visited The Hub before. We are also open to the public. Please read the instructions in their entirety before scheduling an appointment. To see the full offering of available dates and times, click through the scheduling process.

Appointment Registration FAQ:

Q: I’m registering for a family member or on behalf of someone else. Do I need to make a new account for each person?

A: When scheduling for family members, all the steps will need to be completed for each family member. You may use the same email address to create multiple accounts, but must register each family member under their own name.

Q: I want to schedule multiple services (e.g. a flu vaccine and a COVID-19 vaccine) for the same visit. Is that possible?

A: Yes. Follow the prompts during the registration process to schedule an appointment for both a flu vaccine and a COVID-19 vaccine. If you would like to receive other services during the same visit, complete steps 2-4 on the registration pagefor the first appointment, then click on the "Home" button and repeat steps 2-4 for any additional service(s) on the same day as your first appointment.

Q: I am unable to complete the appointment-scheduling process online. What can I do?

A: We take walk-in appointments as well. If you need help scheduling an appointment or have any additional questions, please stop by the Hub during operating hours, call us at 412-383-4372, or email TheHub@pitt.edu.

Vaccines Available

The Hub provides the following vaccines:

Moderna COVID-19 vaccine (monovalent and bivalent)
Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine (monovalent and bivalent)
Novavax COVID-19 vaccine
Flu (Flucelvax and Fluad)
We are no longer offering the Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) COVID-19 vaccine

We can vaccinate patients age 3 years and older with Pfizer, Moderna, and Flu vaccines. We can vaccinate patients age 12 and older with the Novavax vaccine.

We follow CDC guidelines for COVID-19 vaccine recommendations. The CDC recommendations are based on age, vaccine you first received, and length of time since last dose.

Booster Shots

The Pitt Vaccination and Health Connection Hub (the Hub) is offering the updated (bivalent) boosters.

Why should you get the updated (bivalent) COVID-19 booster?

According to the CDC, “The updated (bivalent) boosters are called “bivalent” because they protect against both the original virus that causes COVID-19 and the Omicron variant BA.4 and BA.” The FDA says that the updated COVID-19 boosters are designed to give patients broad protection against COVID-19, including protection against the new variants.

To receive the updated (bivalent) booster at The Hub, you must:

Have received your primary series of the COVID-19 vaccine
Be at least 2 months, or 8 weeks out from your primary series or most recent booster dose
Be at least 3 years of age

If you have recently tested positive for COVID-19, please wait to be vaccinated until after you complete your isolation period. Additionally, you may consider delaying your next vaccine (primary dose or booster) by 3 months from when your symptoms started or, if you had no symptoms, when you received a positive test. People who have had a known COVID-19 exposure should not seek vaccination until their quarantine period has ended to avoid potentially exposing healthcare personnel.

If you have questions about eligibility, please do not hesitate to stop by the center, call or email at 412-383-4372 or TheHub@pitt.edu. We are happy to work clinically with individuals to address their concerns.

Boosters are widely available throughout our region. You can find additional vaccine providers on the Allegheny County Health Department website, at your local pharmacy, by calling your health care provider for guidance, or by visiting UPMC's COVID-19 vaccine scheduling system.

At the Hub, we follow CDC guidelines for COVID-19 boosters. You can find the CDC COVID-19 booster recommendations here: CDC Booster Shot Guidelines

Frequently Asked Questions: Vaccines

Who needs protection?

Everyone needs protection.

Some people are naturally less likely to experience complications if they get sick with the virus that causes COVID-19. Some people will get the virus and never develop any symptoms. Other people are not as lucky. Some have compromised immune systems and are not able to develop a strong protective immune response. Immune systems are highly complicated. But it means that higher-risk people must rely on the rest of us to get vaccinated to protect them from getting seriously ill with the virus. This reliance on others is called herd immunity. When a higher percentage of the people in a population are protected, the more protection they offer to the small number of people whose bodies are not able to mount an effective immune response on their own.

Aren’t COVID-19 vaccines experimental?

No, none of the COVID-19 vaccines are “experimental.” These vaccines are evidence-based. They have been given to many millions of people. We have seen how safe and effective they are. They have undergone the same rigorous testing as every other vaccine that people get, like the flu vaccine. The FDA authorized the Pfizer, Moderna and J&J vaccines for “emergency use” because the COVID-19 pandemic caused a global public health emergency. Full approvals for COVID-19 vaccines are not being rushed.

What about variants?

As time passes, the virus that causes COVID-19 changes in small ways to evade the protections people have developed against it. This is how viruses survive. When more of us are vaccinated, the virus has less opportunity to mutate into new variants that could infect new people or re-infect recovered COVID-19 patients.

Even if you had COVID-19 before, it is important to get vaccinated. The version of the virus you may have survived months ago may not be the same version of the virus that is currently circulating and infecting people.

We also do not know yet how long immunity to the virus that causes COVID-19 lasts. That means, if you had COVID-19 months ago, and are relying solely on your body’s immune response from back then to fight off new variants of the virus, you are not as protected as you could be right now. The vaccines are highly effective at preventing severe disease and hospitalization, even from these new variants.

No matter how it feels, COVID-19 is not over. This virus is constantly changing. We need to use every tool available to shut down the pandemic—and vaccines are the strongest tools we have.

I’ve had COVID-19 and tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies. Isn’t that sufficient protection?

Vaccination provides a more predictable response and demonstrable efficacy against the coronavirus variants. The antibody tests are not designed to assess if patients are protected against COVID-19, but rather the presence of some antibodies. Refer to the CDC page on antibodies and COVID-19 for details. Those who have had COVID-19 still need to be vaccinated to have the best protection.

Can I provide proof of COVID-19 immunity from an antibody test rather than proof of vaccination?

No, even if you had COVID-19 before, it is important to get vaccinated. The version of the virus you may have survived months ago may not be the same version of the virus that is currently circulating and infecting people.

What are the vaccine requirements for international Pitt students?

International students may have already been vaccinated outside of the U.S. If you are a student who received the full dose of a vaccine approved by the World Health Organization while abroad and are planning to be on a Pitt campus this fall, you are considered fully vaccinated and you are encouraged to disclose your vaccination status and details to Pitt.

If you are partially vaccinated before you arrive on campus, you are able to get one of the three vaccines currently available in the U.S.—Pfizer, Moderna or J&J. The same is true for any student, faculty or staff member who has already received full or partial doses of a vaccine not approved by the World Health Organization.

International students with questions should contact the Office of International Services.

Questions?

Drop by the Vaccination Center at Nordenberg Hall. Our pharmacists can help determine which vaccine is right for you. Check out the CDC's Frequently Asked Questions about COVID-19 Vaccination.

Additional Resources