That’s such a nice succinct statement of their plan and the practical, logical reasons behind it. With zero “in these unprecedented times” or “for the health and safety” buzzwords.
We don’t have Barnard or Columbia on our list, but if we were still making a list, I would want to check them out now.
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That is a strange policy.
The only non-cynical explanation I can think of is that they’re basing it on the idea that Omicron tends to only be 3 days from exposure to symptoms and since they assume the boosted kids probably aren’t infected, they’re willing to take extra risks with that group.
Problems with that: obviously the fact that even boosted people can get infected, but beyond that, often people become symptomatic and still have a negative test for a day or two, with it not turning positive until around day 5. IMO, if they’re going to allow tests on Day 3 for the boosted crowd, they should just skip the tests altogether for them and if that means they have more than they need, maybe share them with some of the staff of nearby businesses that the students frequent.
If it’s an attempt to penalize those who are unvaxxed, though, they could have done better. I believe the guidelines our K-12 sent us over the weekend are directly from the CDC, and those don’t require any quarantine or test at all if you’re boosted or freshly vaccinated. Just have to mask for 10 days - which they’re already doing. Perhaps the inclusion of a test requirement for the boosted group is to distract people from the fact there is no mention of quarantine for them?
Or maybe they’re working on the theory that if boosted kids have covid, it’s almost certainly 3-day incubation Omicron, but 5-day Delta IS still out there and the unvaccinated kids are more likely to be succeptible to that. (I’m ignoring all naturally acquired immunity in these statements, since that seems the norm when creating the policies.) I’m going to go with that theory, since I like thinking the best of people and having a Delta epidemic hit the school because Omicron made everyone stop taking covid seriously before everyone had acquired immunity one way or the other does seem like a problem to avoid if possible.
It may make sense to count a prior infection as equivalent to vaccination, but it is likely that many who were previously infected do not have reliable documentation of such. Also, prior infection + vaccination tends to give stronger immune response than either alone, so even those who have had COVID-19 before would gain some benefit from vaccination.
I agree absolutely when we’re talking about those that have no vaccine history and claim to have had covid a year ago, possibly without official confirmation. But there are large numbers of vaccinated students who just had covid over their winter break. I would argue that a natural booster ought to count for these kids.
And prior to the boosters, I would have argued that confirmed covid in the last 3 months was probably more protection than a vaccine given back when they were first available, yet that was never factored in.
But really, my comment wasn’t really because I personally felt that it should be considered, but because I know that many other people feel passionate that it should be, and I was trying to avoid the “but what about natural immunity?” debate, that I’ve now walked into!
I just wanted to be clear that I was ignoring natural immunity on purpose because, whether you think it’s right or wrong, it’s pretty much a given that natural immunity doesn’t factor into the policy decision tree.
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One big problem is official testing that confirmed the case. Many of those students took at home tests so now there’s no way to “prove” they had COVID. It turns into the honor system. Vaccines and boosters are easier to track and verify.
Of course, many of the latter group do not have medical record confirmation of suspected or probable COVID-19. They might not have tested (especially with testing shortages), or they may have only done at home tests.
Perhaps someone who really wants to know can try to get a nucleocapsid antibody test, though that is less accessible and more costly than a dose of vaccine. For some international students, that many not be a reliable way of determining prior infection, since some vaccines in other countries use inactivated whole viruses, rather than spike proteins only.
Well my son has been back at his college apartment for 10 days and has now tested positive for covid using a home test. He says he is congested and a little achy but no fever and he doesn’t feel sick. He is doubled vaxed and boosted. He got up this morning to go to the gym before classes and decided to test because of the symptoms. He is now bummed that he can’t go to the gym for 5 days but at least classes are online so he’s not missing that. The bigger problem is he is out of home tests so can’t do a repeat test unless he somehow gets his hands on one, which is kind of hard when you aren’t supposed to be leaving the apartment.
FWIW, he is not careful at all so I’m not terribly surprised. He’s been going to the gym daily, going out to eat, socializing with friends and never wears a mask.
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There’s a lot he can do for exercise w/o the gym. I won’t bore folks here, but google “bodyweight exercises.”
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Sorry about your son and hope his symptoms remain mild and that he recovers quickly. Has he checked if his college can get him access to a follow up test, at least to clear him after the isolation period?
This is the big advantage of starting online for your son and the many thousands like him at various colleges across the country. This, and unfortunate reality that if classes were in person then many kids with only mild symptoms would end up going to class anyway.
Amherst just sent out update on start of spring semester:
- Start date pushed back from Wednesday February 2 to Monday February 7, first week of classes online, in-person classes start on February 14
- Staggered move-in from Sunday January 30 to Friday February 4
- Last day of classes and senior assembly pushed back from Friday May 13; Final exams from Thursday May 19 to Tuesday May 24.
- Rapid pre-arrival tests ordered for domestic students.
- Students may leave campus any time, but not supposed to dine in at restaurants or bars until at least Friday February 18.
- Valentine Dining Hall will operate at 50% capacity.
- Spring sports (not winter sports), theater, dance, and music practices and performances can start meeting in-person on Monday February 14. Same is true for club meetings.
- Non-academic spaces operating at 50% capacity, classrooms and other academic spaces at 100% capacity.
- Masks required in all indoor locations (including dorms). Only KN95 masks acceptable (will be provided). (Feel like this “requirement” is only theater for dorms; theoretically, all students were required to wear masks at all times in dorms last semester too, but very few students actually did or are now, and according to D, the party scene last semester was as vibrant as ever with no consequences after the initial on-campus quarantine period last semester).
- Only visitors participating in College’s testing protocol or another weekly testing program at one of the Five Colleges allowed to attend on-campus programming.
- Students tested three times a week for first three weeks of semester.
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you progressed further than I was able to with Vault. I tried for several days- each time receiving message that daily allocation was already met, i.e., site did not allow me to order through NJ program
One important update I forgot to mention; Amherst is not following the lead of Harvard, Bowdoin, and others in having students who test positive simply isolate in their rooms. They will continue to separate students who test positive from the general population, but have bought out additional residences/hotels to accommodate the potential increases in cases (in case the 100+ isolation rooms they already have is not enough).
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Purdue is allowing professors to continue teaching remotely if they are at risk, regardless of class size. D has a 10 person course that will be remote all semester because the prof is elderly and their spouse is immunocompromised. Kudos to them for allowing that flexibility but I wish students had been given a heads up in advance. The course has been listed as meeting in person and students were just told today it would be remote. D said it wouldn’t have made a difference because she wanted to take the course and this prof has been teaching this way since pandemic started so he’s got it down to a science, but not every other student might feel the same way.
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Has this been posted yet?
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For the NCAA guidance, I’d go straight to the source rather than a site with what appears to be a partisan slant. Here it is:
Important to note this passage:
“ For the purposes of this document, the equivalent of “fully vaccinated” is a documented COVID-19 infection in the past 90 days. Importantly, while a prior infection offers some protection from future illness, sometimes called “natural immunity,” the level of protection acquired from having COVID-19 may vary depending on how mild or severe the illness was, the time since infection and age, and no currently available test can reliably determine whether a prior infection provides adequate protection against reinfection. Accordingly, CDC recommendations provide that individuals who have a prior history of COVID-19 infection should be vaccinated following recovery from the COVID illness and satisfaction of isolation recommendation.”
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Sorry, I’m not familiar with the site. Did it misrepresent the actual NCAA guidelines?
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No worries, I would just say that it is more editorial than reporting and probably does leave the wrong impression about the significance of what the NCAA is saying. The actual guidance is straightforward.
The other significant aspect of the NCAA document at https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/ssi/COVID/SSI_ResocializationWinter2022.pdf is that, for the definition of “fully vaccinated” or equivalent:
- One dose of J&J “expires” after two months.
- Two doses of Pfizer or Moderna “expire” after six months.
- Documented COVID-19 infection “expires” after 90 days.
In other words, to be considered “fully vaccinated” by the NCAA, a booster is required two months after one dose of J&J or six months after two doses of Pfizer or Moderna. Those with documented COVID-19 infection still need to get vaccinated (and later boosted) to retain “fully vaccinated” status after 90 days after the infection (unless they get COVID-19 again).
Those not considered “fully vaccinated” must be tested every week. Interestingly, these testing requirements allow for one PCR/NAAT test per week (within three days of the first competition if there there are any during the week), which seems easy for the virus to evade. The alternative test option, which is probably more effective, is antigen testing at least three times per week, including within a day of each competition (would be better on the day of competition).
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Wouldn’t the booster doses expire using the same time frame as well, 2 mos after a JJ booster and 6 months after Pfizer/ Moderna booster?
I don’t think Purdue is “allowing” remote teaching for these folks. They no doubt have to submit documentation of their vulnerability. It is not legal to force anyone, students or faculty, to do in-person if they are at increased risk of severe illness.
A lot of professors have gotten quite good at Zoom classes, making them interactive for instance. Some kids prefer it: they can stay in their pj’s and those who live off campus don’t have to get to class physically.