Colleges and universities across the country are making spring semester changes to keep the highly transmissible omicron variant away from campus.
Anna Bershteyn, assistant professor in the department of population health at the New York University Grossman School of Medicine, said the best mitigation method — delaying or going remote — depends on the school’s culture, but all institutions should look further into the future and prepare beyond the upcoming semester.
Bershteyn explained that many schools have the infrastructure to create safe environments for their students by establishing well-ventilated rooms with air purifiers, requiring readily available Covid-19 testing, mandating masks and encouraging or mandating vaccination and boosters. With all of these measures in place, she said an educational institution has the potential to be one of the safest places — and this should largely be the focus right now.
As the new year approaches and students wind down from their holiday breaks, colleges and universities across the country are announcing booster shot requirements. More than a thousand schools already require Covid-19 vaccinations, and an increasing number“For colleges that haven’t required vaccination, they should,” Gigi Gronvall, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security at the Bloomberg School of Public Health, said.
California State University, the largest four-year university in the country, with a student population of about 485,549 students, will require all eligible students, faculty and staff across 23 campuses to get a booster shot by Feb. 28.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
‘We must adapt': CDC defends new isolation guidance amid omicron surgeCDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky defends agency's new Covid isolation guidance.
Read more »
Arkansas Judge Says State’s Mask Mandate Ban Is UnconstitutionalAn Arkansas judge brought the hammer down Wednesday, ruling the state’s ban on mask mandates is unconstitutional as it discriminates against public and private school students
Read more »
Amid Surge Of COVID-19, Relief That College Football Bowl Game In Dallas Goes As PlannedDespite a surge in cases of the omicron variant of COVID-19, fans of Air Force and Louisville expressed relief Tuesday that the Servpro First Responder Bowl went as planned.
Read more »
'Not in a good place': Hospitals prepare for omicron surge after holidaysThe holidays could lead to a surge in Covid cases from the omicron variant. Hospitals are preparing for a surge in Covid patients.
Read more »
CDC cuts COVID-19 isolation guidance down to 5 days amid Omicron surgeThe agency says science shows the majority of transmission 'occurs early in the course of illness.'
Read more »
Days before New Year's Eve, some SF Castro bars close temporarily due to omicron surgeSome bar owners say the decision to close through New Year's, is out of 'an abundance of caution' over the omicron variant.
Read more »