Is Tufts requiring social distancing and/or offering remote classes?
I.e. looks like an honor system where unvaccinated are ârequiredâ to wear masks, but vaccinated are free to choose (like retail stores in some places). In actual practice, since the set of people who refuse vaccination appears to be mostly the same as the set of those who are least likely to want to wear masks (and therefore not wear them if there is no checking for vaccination status), it may actually be that the wearing masks has some positive correlation to being vaccinated.
No social distancing, all classes in person ( I think a few large intro classes may be hybrid). All clubs and activities are in person. No masking outdoors. Dining back to normal. They are encouraging outdoor dining for the start of the year when the weather is nice.
They are doing a big welcome for the class of 2024 because we missed out on all in person orientation and events etc.
I was in a retail store today that said âwear masksâ and many didnât. It was frustrating because it was so crowded. Thank god we had our masks. I donât trust anyone. In my area we have a high (like 80%) vax rate, but up North by the border of and into Wisconsin not even close, so no way am I taking any chance for a breakthrough case, especially with a severely immune compromised parent.
Your 100% correct. The unvaccinated are the ones who donât want to wear the masks anyway (other than those who canât get the vaccine) so most people wearing masks are also vaccinated. My brotherâs sister in law is an anti vaxxer and refuses to wear a mask as well. Lives in LA. So what do you think? She isnât invincible and is going out all over. Putting herself at major risk. Ridiculous. And, nothing will convince her to get the vaccineâŠsmh.
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Oh, before writing my previous response I hadnât read yours carefully enough. I have a feeling that, since we are talking about college-age students, there will be very little mask-wearing among either group. I would say that the majority of those masking will be the very few who are immunocomprimised or have some other medical reason for not vaccinating. If the Delta variant starts to break through in larger numbers maybe a few more vaccinated students will choose to wear masks (or the school will require them again for everyone).
Mask compliance was pretty good last year at Tufts and it led to a pretty decent year all things considered. I think we can only speculate on what will happen with the variants. The true test will be when campus is fully opened in the fall. Colleges that are mandating the vaccines should have very low cases. Hopefully life can get back to ânormalâ
Obviously, she is making a personal choice to voluntarily play COVID-19 lottery. If she wins a prize, then that would not be too surprising a personal consequence. Of course, she could also be a vector to infect others, although others who are also voluntarily unvaccinated were playing COVID-19 lottery as well, and most vaccinated people will not be at much risk. The main potential victims who have less choice in the matter would be those unable to get vaccinated or who are medically vulnerable even after vaccination.
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It seems that schools that are testing everyone regularly, regardless of vaccination status, are going to find cases. The recent baseball and congressional breakthrough cases are but two examples.
Assuming a 10 day quarantine, I donât understand how those quarantined/isolated students are going to keep up with their classes (doesnât seem like many schools (any?) are offering a remote option). Ten days is a long time to be out of school, potentially extremely problematic in a quarter system.
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So pretty much like last year just no social distancing. Iâd be pretty annoyed if Iâm a vaccinated student tbh.
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And many schools arenât offering isolation housing. Itâs up to the student and itâs on their dime.
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and in person classes, clubs, activities, dining halls etcâŠso better than last year.
no cohorts and no limits on how many can gather in groups
thatâs my question. Without a virtual component what will happen in isolation?
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If we continue to behave the way we did in the last several weeks, the fall term wonât be like what we all thought would be or hoped for. Schools that donât plan to offer a remote option may have to reconsider their decisions.
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yes, I would think they would all have a remote option just incase numbers go up again
What? Vaccinated people have to mask up? Why?
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And vaccinated students have to get regular testing too (at Tufts). Iâm definitely nervous that we might start seeing more policies like this as covid cases continue to increase again. So frustrating.
It probably has to do with difficulty of enforcing âmust wear a mask if unvaccinatedâ rules. If you go by the honor system, unvaccinated people are expected to cheat, since refusal to vaccinate correlates to greater dislike of wearing masks â where mask wearing is voluntary, it appears to be more common among demographics that are also more likely to be vaccinated.
Rather than go with enforcement that could be heavy handed (even with check points, how do you stop unvaccinated people from wearing a mask at a check point, then taking it off afterward?), it is easier for the college to require masks for everyone.
An alternative is not to have such a rule, and let the voluntarily unvaccinated people play COVID-19 lottery with themselves while the vaccinated people are mostly safe from them. But then the college would have difficulty accommodating medically vulnerable people (who would be at risk even after vaccination, or who are medically unable to get vaccinated).
If a college knows that a ridiculously high percentage of their students and faculty are vaccinated, then why the masks? Andy Slavitt would have none of that. Iâve heard him twice now say that unvaccinated people do not need to wear masks. We donât know of any other college requiring both vaccines and masks. I wonder why Tufts decided to go that way? Will that now happen at other Boston schools? Or will the other NESCACs join in? I think there will be a revolt if that happens. Likely 95 or more percent will be vaccinated at the smaller NESCACs I would think!
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Oh well. So we are doing this forever? The medically unable will always be unable.
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