At least one of hte other annoucements said that those without a booster would have to have weekly testing in the spring and would not be allowed to take classes in the summer or fall . There are states where its hard to find a booster.
My son has one more semester left. He has never had Covid and got the JnJ in Aug. He has been having twitches and totally blames it on the vaccine. (I told him its likely due to his poor diet and lack of Vitamin D). Yes we are heading to being fully vaccinated will mean boosters, but this gives students (Fordham) about a month to comply. I did see that they offer shots on campus though. My sons University does not.
The other issue with the boosters is the timing. Many students received their vaccines (or their second dose) during the summer or at school in late August or September so their 6 month mark may be after the start of the second semester.
Hence:
âŠprior to the start of classes for the spring 2022 semester OR as soon as medically permissible.
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RightâŠ.Iâm just pointing out that students will be receiving boosters after the start of next semesterâŠwhich might affect case numbers because 2 doses alone donât seem to do as well against omicron.
Not to mention that, at least where I live, booster appointments are already into mid January so students attending schools that decide they want boosters before second semester but havenât announced the requirement yet may find it challenging to comply within the timeframe.
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Barnard just announced their booster requirement for the Spring semester as well; itâs thus reasonable to assume that this will be a coordinated requirement for the entire Columbia University.
The college had announced vaccination requirement already back in April 2021 for all, so thereâs a good chance that many students might be be medically eligible (my daughter had stayed on top of matters and been boostered weeks ago - so itâs a non-issue).
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Well, Fauci wants to make a yearly vaccine that covers various strains of Covid, flu and some common cold viruses⊠Looks like thatâs where we are heading next year.
Itâs likely that colleges that have a booster requirement will arrange clinics on campus at the start of spring semester for those who have been unable to obtain one at home. These colleges do not seem unreasonable. The earliest that I saw a college announce as a date they expect students to get boosters by is February, which is more than 6 months past when they would have been required to have their regular vaccination since they were required at the start of the fall semester in AugustâŠ.and it seems likely they will either assist with offering booster clinics or be understanding of students unable to get one, although the backlog of appointments for boosters is unlikely to carry into February. I am in a high-vaccine/high-booster region, and booster appointments do not take longer than 1 week to schedule, so I doubt much of the country is seeing waits into mid-January at this point. No doubt colleges will have allowances for students who didnât get vaccinated until later in September, etc. I see it as a non-issue (the ability of students to obtain possibly-required-boosters for spring semesters).
ETA: to an earlier question: my understanding of Cornellâs direction to students is that they told them to obtain a covid test on campus. If negative, go home asap. If positive, stay and isolate until safe to go home. They are not sending kids Willy-Nilly into mass transit without testing them first. They are providing housing until the students finish isolation. Hopefully most of the students traveling home are following directions to not only test negative but to wear high-quality masks during their trip home.
Gonna be super, super interesting to see what happens at the giant universities that donât require vax. Like mine.
I wonât have to set foot on campus till at least July, but anyone who had hopes of an academic career and is teaching there has been told they have to be in the classroom with maskless, unvaxed kids. They did try to make staff do the same, but hemorrhaged so many employees that theyâve done an about-face and started handing out remote dispensations, no problem. Point of contact, though, is the classroom, and theyâre white-knuckling the idea of We Are a Residential Campus â and end of day the people with a lot on the line in the classroom are the tenure-track faculty. Nobody else is paid well enough to stick around for the risk if they take it seriously, nobody else has foreclosed their own options like the tenured have.
No idea yet how Dâs going to deal with it. She really, really doesnât want covid, is boosted, but lives in a dorm full of unvaxxed people. Weâve had hundreds and hundreds of self-reported cases among students and staff this semester (no mandatory testing or reporting). My guess is the university admin will pretend all is well until we start seeing a lot of news stories with students and parents complaining that nobodyâs showing up to teach their classes, like itâs the beginning of The Secret Garden. Then theyâll try to wrestle a lot of profs into going back, cancel a bunch of courses, and quietly move a bunch of courses online (in completely haphazard fashion) while ramping up student-life activities and ignoring the students whoâre freaking out but canât afford to go to college out of state. Itâs a horrible situation all around. Yeah â not sure yet how weâll play it.
Penn is moving exams online as of Monday. So any finals this week are still in person unless the professor decides to move them online. Penn moves final exams online for week of Dec. 20 | The Daily Pennsylvanian . My D is a grad student and was supposed to proctor some exams next week (to pick up extra cash), but those jobs have been cancelled.
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At some point soon most colleges will hopefully conclude that the risk of harm from covid is minor enough, and the treatment options strong enough, that outbreaks are treated routinely and no longer warrant quarantines or shutdowns. Princeton announced there would be no hybrid or remote options for the Spring.
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Wonât this require a change in CDC recommendations for quarantine and isolation? Colleges are somewhat at the mercy of the CDC and local health departments. I think one thing that motivates early shutdowns is the fear of having an overwhelming responsibility for accommodating residential students who, under CDC rules, are supposed to quarantine or isolate and therefore canât just be sent home for break once you know they have tested positive or are a close contact.
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Yes, hoping CDC and state requirements change accordingly
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As long as students are fully vaccinated, there is a difference between been tested positive or with symptoms, vs. ONLY a close contact. Specifically the CDC guidelines already suggest that anyone vaccinated:
- Get tested 5-7 days after close contact with someone with suspected or confirmed COVID-19.
- Wear a mask indoors in public for 14 days after exposure to a close contact or until a negative test result.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/vaccines/fully-vaccinated-guidance.html
Summary of Recent Changes
Updates as of October 15, 2021
Based on evolving evidence, CDC recommends fully vaccinated people get tested 5-7 days after close contact with a person with suspected or confirmed COVID-19.
Some states have mandates which exceed CDC guidelines
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Correct. Vaccinated students donât quarantine but do have to test. At Bowdoin they test them a lot. I think they alternate rapid tests and PCR tests for seven days. Positive vaccinated people still have to isolate for ten days. If Cornell had 900 (!!!) vaccinated kids test positive thatâs a lot of kids to isolate.
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I feel like my quote got edited in a way that doesnât convey my original meaning. My point was just the rather obvious one that future changes in school policies will be constrained by whatever are the current rules and/or recommendations of the CDC and local health authorities. I for one certainly hope that we can eventually move to a situation where, as @roycroftmom hypothesized, risk of harm is minor enough and treatments options strong enough that outbreaks no longer warrant quarantines or shutdowns.
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Stanford sent a message to all students today regarding changes to the beginning of winter quarter instruction to support academic continuity. **We are now planning to begin the quarter with two weeks of online instruction, though students are welcome to return to campus on schedule and do not need to change their travel plans,assuming they are healthy. Other university operations will continue.
In coming back for the winter quarter, we want to minimize disruptions to studentsâ coursework and provide as much predictability as possible for both students and instructors. The current uncertainty around the Omicron variant poses a number of logistical challenges, particularly if students either test positive over the break and cannot travel back to campus on time, or test positive upon arrival and need to isolate.
Classes will be held online for the first two weeks of the winter quarter, which begins Jan. 3 for most students. In-person instruction will begin Tuesday, Jan. 18, after the Martin Luther King, Jr. Day holiday. We are also asking students to take a COVID-19 test before traveling back to campus.
Students are strongly encouraged to obtain a COVID-19 booster if eligible. All eligible students will be required to provide documentation of a booster, unless they have a medical or religious accommodation, by Jan. 31, 2022**.
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UMD had a spike yesterday and is now moving dining to carry out only. Just a few days of finals left.
Cases arenât going up at all colleges yet. Pitt releases numbers once a week on Thursday. Todays numbers show that positive cases have declined for two weeks in a row. While itâs true they are only testing symptomatic and unvaccinated, cases would be trending up if there were more widespread covid in the community.
With omicron, making food takeout is a joke. They will take it back to dorms and eat with friends.
Itâs so so much more contagious and mild itâs going to burn right through the population. This HAS to be the turning point for insane fully vaxxed testing schemes at colleges.
My prediction is that professional sports will quickly change their policies in the next week or two because 90% of players will test positive - all games will be cancelled.
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