Welcome Back: COVID Updates – August 30, 2021
Dear Students,
It's my pleasure to welcome you back to campus for the start of the 2021-2022 academic year! I'm writing to update you on some important information regarding COVID-19 as we begin the semester. Like you, it was my sincere hope that the pandemic would be in our rearview mirror by now, but that is simply not the reality. The extremely contagious Delta variant has prevented statewide cases from dropping as low as had been hoped heading into the academic year. Fortunately, vaccines have still proven to be very effective against the variant in limiting the spread and preventing serious illness.
We anticipate high vaccination rates on our campus. All students who plan to be on campus are required to be vaccinated, unless they have received an exemption. We have also reached agreement with faculty and staff on a vaccine mandate.
For those still in need of a vaccination, we will be holding clinics on campus on September 2nd (11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Athletic Center) and September 8th (11:30 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. in the Ecumenical Center). For more information, contact the Health Center at healthcenter@framingham.edu.
Students who have a medical or religious exemption or are not yet fully vaccinated (defined as two weeks after 2nd dose) are required to test weekly. We will have on-campus testing in the Athletic Center from 9:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. every Tuesday.
At this time, masks are required for everyone indoors regardless of vaccination status (AFSCME employee agreement to this requirement is still pending). Guidance on our Mask Requirements and other mitigation measures, which will be updated as public health conditions change, can be found online. As we have throughout the pandemic, we are adhering to the safety guidance and best practices provided by federal, state, and local public health authorities.
We will once again be posting our weekly COVID data to the website. This year, we plan to post the data every Monday by noon. I will continue to e-mail the community with important updates and announcements, but I will no longer be e-mailing out the weekly COVID data. Everyone should familiarize themselves with the website dashboard so that they can check this information on their own. Additionally, vaccination rate information will be added to the website's content.
While the pandemic remains a significant part of our daily lives, I still believe we are poised for an enjoyable and productive academic year. With the proper precautions in place, we are proceeding with in-person events, activities, athletics, and other aspects of college life that were stripped away for much of last year. I have seen firsthand the resiliency of this community and I know we are ready to overcome this challenge and have a semester that we will look back upon with pride.
Stay safe,
Javier