This is way off topic, but what you are saying is not true for the vast majority of people.
Does your school have any sort of vaccine dash where you have any idea how many are actually vaccinated? While my daughter is at a school in one of those red states where it is a sh*t show, it is also a campus that did have relatively high vaccination rates in the Spring as well as a high number of covid cases last fall so there is a good amount of immunity. Itâs more of the parents that are the anti vaxxers and other people in the state. The bigger classes however, are the ones that are online. Fortunately this isnât affecting my daughter since for her program her classes only have about 30 students in them and these professors were in person last year.
The one thing you can do to protect yourself which will give you a good amount of added protection especially since youâre vaccinated is that you can wear a mask even if your students donât. You can also make sure youâre not near them in a lecture room, etc. The risk of you getting anything from them in that setting is much lower. Lastly, you yourself can also ask them to mask up, even if itâs not mandated.
I work in a school where their policy as of now is no mask mandate inside for anyone. If youâre vaccinated you donât have to mask up and if youâre not vaccinated theyâre currently only encouraging you wear a mask. My own district which is literally next door to this one, is requiring masks for all and if you play a sport or engage in any extracurricular activity you must be vaccinated. It is amazing how two districts that share a common boundary have such difficult views on the issue. I know teachers are going to be making a stink where I work over the non mask requirement for even the non-vaccinated. It doesnât sit well with me either, but I am still allowed to wear mine and I plan to. I also plan to keep my distance as much as possible, but I view it the same as before even though everyone before had masks. The problem though before is I was still reminding these kids (high schoolers) to cover their noses most of the time anyway.
The other difference is there are very few cases here. If I lived in one of these southern states I would not be teaching. If my daughter wasnât an upper classmen I would also not be sending her to that school in the South either so I do get that your hands are somewhat tied.
Here is a preprint about antibody neutralization of the C.37 / Lambda variant, in comparison to B.1 and B.1.351 / Beta and other variants. The antibodies were from people who had prior natural infection or the Pfizer - BioNTech or Moderna vaccine.
Although neutralization was worse than for D614G / B.1, it was not worse than for B.1.351 for antibodies from convalescent or Moderna vaccinated people. It was worse for antibodies from Pfizer - BioNTech vaccinated people, but Pfizer - BioNTech vaccinated peopleâs antibodies were not reduced in neutralization as much against B.1.351 as for the other two cases.
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Unfortunately, long COVID-19 seems to be neglected area of research, despite the numerous-enough anecdotes that everyone knows it exists. In the pre-vaccine era, one study did find that about 20-30% of people who had COVID-19 had symptoms 6 months later. A more recent study on breakthrough infections mentioned 19% at 6 weeks â not as bad as the pre-vaccine study, but still of concern (but the methods were probably not comparable). There is supposedly a large study based on VA records that may mention some data on the subject. Some physicians have anecdotally claimed that long COVID-19 is rare in breakthrough cases, but those are just anecdotes from small samples (considering that breakthrough cases are less common to begin with).
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English please? Lol
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B.1.351 / Beta is the variant that is of most concern with respect to vaccine evasion. Vaccines and prior natural infection with older variants appear to be not generally worse against C.37 / Lambda than they are against B.1.351 / Beta.
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Well we just received this from Cornell after the students were sent it first, so some slight changes to things like testing for return to campus and the checking in but once again as a parent so happy with the job theyâre doing and how on top of everything they are to keep our students safe. Sounds like the vaccine is also now mandated for everyone which is also good news. So 2/3 of my college kids have that and 1 has nothing! What a contrast. Also theyâre reiterating that they will not be offering remote options. Love it!!
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Dear Students,
We hope that you are enjoying a happy, healthy and restful summer, and look forward to welcoming you to campus in just a few short weeks. We write today to share important information on preparing for your arrival and what to expect this fall. As we respond to recent increases in the prevalence of SARS-CoV-19 (delta variant) infection, we are establishing campus policies that we believe will facilitate safe conditions for in-person learning and social activity, as described below. Please be advised that this guidance could change pending the course of the pandemic, especially as it relates to spread of highly infectious virus variants.
Fall Checklist and Personal Responsibilities
Cornell will again require all students to complete the Fall Checklist, submitting arrival date, contact information and address for the fall semester. The checklist will go live on August 4 and all students â undergraduate, graduate and professional â must complete the checklist no later than August 10 (via the Daily Check). Failure to do so will result in an enrollment hold starting on August 11.
Vaccination Mandate
As previously announced, Cornell will require COVID-19 vaccination for students returning to the Ithaca, Geneva and Cornell Tech campuses for the Fall 2021 semester. Students must submit proof of vaccination by Monday, August 16(via the Daily Check). Please do not wait until the deadline to submit your proof of vaccination. We have also imposed a mandate that all university employees are either vaccinated, or participate in regular surveillance testing and wear masks indoors. We have seen an overwhelming response of our community to the need to be vaccinated, and progress can be viewed on our daily dashboard.
Vaccination Clinics and Appointments
Students should get vaccinated before arriving on campus. Those who are unable to get vaccinated prior to their arrival, or whose vaccination is not recognized by Cornell, will be expected to be vaccinated as soon as possible after arriving on campus.
Cornell Health is offering on-campus vaccination clinics on Aug. 19, 20, 21 and 25. You may find detailed information on Cornell Healthâs website. Students already in the Ithaca area can make an appointment to receive their vaccination by calling Cornell Health at 607-255-5155during regular business hours.
Arrival and Surveillance Testing
Over the summer, weâve learned a lot about infections linked to the delta variant, both nationally and globally. Like you, weâve been deeply concerned to see the increase in infections and disease occurring in many unvaccinated individuals associated with rapid spread of this virus strain. It is also becoming increasingly clear that vaccinated people, while much better protected from severe COVID-19 illness and death than unvaccinated people, may be able to transmit SARS-CoV-2 to others, if infected, even without signs of illness, known as breakthrough cases. If not controlled, these cases, which result from the increased infectivity of the delta variant and the reduced protection from infection by this variant afforded by approved vaccines, comprise a risk to unvaccinated and other vulnerable members of our community.
It is extremely encouraging to see that so many of you have already taken the important public health step of becoming vaccinated against COVID-19. However, we also know that not all students will be able to be fully vaccinated when they arrive on campus this August, and that some students, staff and faculty may be unable to be vaccinated for health or other reasons. Given the potential for spread of the delta variant in our community, including the possibility of breakthrough cases, the university will take the following actions.
- Arrival Testing: Arrival testing is required for all students who are not fully vaccinated. Individuals are considered fully vaccinated 14 days after their second dose for a 2-dose vaccine or 14 days after a 1-dose vaccine. Unvaccinated students must complete an arrival test as soon as possible upon arriving in Ithaca and before moving into their on-campus residence.
Arrival testing for fully vaccinated students may be required at the sole discretion of the university based on prevailing circumstances, but there is no requirement to do so at this time.
- Surveillance Testing: As previously shared, all unvaccinated students (and those not yet fully vaccinated) are required to participate in regular surveillance testing until fully vaccinated, or continually if a student has an approved medical or religious exemption.
In addition, given our evolving understanding of the delta variant, all vaccinated undergraduate students, as well as students enrolled in Cornellâs three professional schools (CVM, Law, Johnson), will initially be required to participate in some level of surveillance testing for a period of time necessary to determine the prevalence on campus when students return. The frequency and dates of your surveillance testing will be displayed in your Daily Check portal. We plan to discontinue this step for vaccinated individuals as soon as we are confident of low virus prevalence on campus.
Please note: Students who are required to participate in surveillance testing will automatically be enrolled in the program following completion of the fall checklist, based on their arrival date. Students who are currently in the Ithaca area, or those who plan to arrive prior to orientation or the first day of classes, will begin surveillance testing prior to the start of the academic year.
Indoor Masking
As noted in Fridayâs campus message, all individuals, regardless of vaccination status, are required to wear a mask when inside public areas of campus buildings or facilities. When indoors, all faculty, staff, students and visitors must remain masked, unless in a private space or when eating. While we hope that the indoor masking measure will be temporary, we will continue to follow guidance from the Tompkins County Health Department.
In-person Learning
In general, fall 2021 classes will not offer a remote option and will not be recorded. We strongly urge all students to arrive on campus before the first day of classes to prepare for this planned return to in-person learning. If you face extenuating circumstances that may prevent you from doing so, please contact your college student services office to determine whether it may be possible for you to keep up with coursework until you arrive. The last day to arrive on campus is September 9.
Student and Parent Forum
Please join us for a Student and Parent/Families Forum on August 4 at 3:30 p.m.where we will provide additional updates on what to expect for fall as well as answer some of your questions. Please note this forum will be recorded and available on covid.cornell.edu for those who are unable to attend live.
We appreciate your continued attention to these important public health measures necessitated by the pandemic as we plan for a successful start to the fall semester and look forward to seeing you back on campus in the coming weeks.
Best,
Mike Kotlikoff
Provost
Ryan Lombardi
Vice President for Student and Campus Lifeâ
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Why are they distinguishing testing of vaxxed from Nonvaxxed? We know both can be contagious, so shouldnât the testing rules ways apply to all?
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Nice. I think itâs also interesting that some schools with mandates are testing everyone on arrival while some are only testing the unvaccinated like Cornell. No one is saying what happens to positive cases. Doesnât seem spelled out in many collegesâ plans. I wonder if thatâs because they donât know yet what they would do with a vaccinated but positive Covid case. We donât know how long a quarantine would be or what happens when one misses class. Thatâs a big question. Iâm dying to know what schools are going to do with positive cases of vaccinated kids if they are caught when they first arrive on campus. No first week of school?!
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Put in isolation, I expect, just like last year. My kidâs roommate tested positive upon arrival.
But no one is spelling that out like last year. Itâs odd.
Well unlike last year they are definitely not closing the Statler Hotel for isolation. We were supposed to stay there in a couple of weeks but then since we had a change of plans and went late last week, we stayed elsewhere. The isolation criteria whatever it is, is also less than what it had been previously as itâs shorter so that will make a difference at schools as well.
@roycroftmom I assume theyâre distinguishing the unvaccinated vs the vaccinated because like other schools are doing, they arenât going to make it easy for those that are unvaccinated (which will be few at Cornell as 99% of faculty are vaxxed and more than 95% of students already are). The more difficult and annoying they make it, the more likely someone will be to just get vaccinated. Last year it was 3x a week surveillance testing if you were in an activity, sport, greek life, etc. But if you read further down, initially everyone is going to be tested anyway so they wonât be treated anyone differently from one another anyway at least at the getgo. And, once cases are down in Tompkins, itâs likely they may get rid of masks also or relax some of the rules, which is exactly what they did at the end of the semester. Those who were vaccinated didnât need to be tested, etc.
Is anyone else worried about their vaccinated students getting a PCR test on arrival and getting a false positive? Is it true that half of those positives are false because a PCR picks up dead fragments of RNA and, in those cases, the person isnât really positive?
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I suppose itâs because vaccinated students are significantly less likely to be infected. Also, the study CDC cited about the infected being equally contagious, whether vaccinated or not, is neither conclusive nor fully convincing.
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Right? All of the language Iâve seen about vaccinated, positive cases say things like âmay be as contagiousâ. I assume all of these masking changes are out of an abundance of caution.
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Happy to start another thread, but the overwhelming conclusion is that while short-term weight loss is possible (more possible if metabolically-active drugs and menopause arenât part of the picture), in the long term people tend to gain the weight back regardless of lifestyle changes, meaning that the favored cure is prevention. Metabolism is complex. Thatâs why thereâs still so much research and it doesnât really work to tell people to protect themselves from covid by losing weight. And why, as someone whoâs been fortunate enough never to have been overweight, Iâm being really careful during this pandemic not to pack it on. Menopause makes maintaining a healthy weight difficult enough.
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The way I look at it, masking achieves two goals:
- Keep the infected (most of them are unvaccinated) from infecting others to a large extent;
- Reduce the exposure of a mask wearer if s/he happens to come into contact with the virus.
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Unfortunately all we have is self-reported data, and no plan to record student vax info, so weâre flying blind. We are not requiring masks of anyone at this point. Most of the permanent population here is vaxed, but once the students come back, weâre a low-vax area.
The one frequently-updated metric I have left is a local hospital which posts inpatient numbers daily. I follow several local hospital/epi people on twitter for the anecdotes and breaking news.
My solution is just not to be on campus, unfortunately. Not teaching in person. If my boss gets leaned on to have people physically onsite, Iâll come back to my office, lock the door when Iâm in there, have a sign outside directing people to reach me by email or zoom, and N95 when I have to leave the office on my way to the john or home. Itâs a pretty contagious bug, and I have to assume that most students will be unmasked and unvaxed, so Iâm not planning on spending hours in a room with them. We have few cases here now, but I expect that to change markedly in a couple of weeks.
Iâm suggesting that my kid wear a mask every time she leaves her room, and Iâm guessing she will. Iâll also give her my room air filter; until itâs really cold out, she can get good airflow into the room with the window a/c, at least. Between age, vax, room airflow, and masking, Iâm guessing sheâs got good odds of not getting sick even with the in-person classes, and the 2x/wk surveillance testing sheâll do (thatâs my thing, just got her the Binax tests) should offer her roommate some protection, too. The roommate sounds pretty careful and is vaxed.
The Cornell letter posted above is a thing of beauty. This is how to do it.
Although choice of masks matters in terms of both protection of others and protection of self.
For example, most common masks protect others better than oneself. But masks with an outlet valve protect oneself better than others.
Thanks for digging that out.