12-22-21: Campus Community Message

Dear Students and Families,

I hope you are well and enjoying the gifts of the holidays. We are writing today with an important update on our COVID policies. As you know, our goal is providing a full campus experience for students while keeping the community safe. Throughout the pandemic, our decisions about how to achieve this have been guided by the best public health expertise, and we have evolved and adapted our plans as the pandemic and the science have evolved. In light of the very rapid growth of cases of the Omicron variant, for which booster shots are particularly important, and based on guidance from the American College Health Association and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, today we are announcing a new policy.

All Wooster students who are currently eligible to get a booster shot will be required to do so by February 1. Students who are not yet eligible are required to get a booster shot within two weeks of becoming eligible. Please get a booster shot as soon as possible. The sooner you have the booster, the better you protect yourself and others. Here are a few answers to questions that you may have.

• Am I eligible for a booster shot?
  • Almost all Wooster students are currently eligible. If you got the J&J vaccine, you are eligible 2 months after your vaccination. If you got a Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, you are eligible 6 months after your second dose.  If you got another vaccine, see THIS LINK for more information.

• What booster shot type should I get?
  • The CDC is currently recommending that people get either Pfizer or Moderna for their boosters, regardless of their first vaccine type.

• Can I get my booster shot on campus? 
  • We strongly recommend that you get your shot at home over break if at all possible. We are working to arrange additional booster clinics on campus, but our hospital and health department partners may have limited spaces available. And, getting your booster sooner is best for keeping you and others healthy.

• How do I register my booster shot record? 
  • Follow the directions here. (If you have any trouble entering the information, send a copy of your vaccine card to contact-tracing@wooster.edu.)

• I have a medical or religious exemption from the vaccine requirement. Do I need to apply again? 
  • No. Your exemption still holds.

• I am currently fully vaccinated for COVID, but I have a medical condition that prevents me from getting a booster shot. What should I do?  
  • You can request a medical exemption by emailing vaccine-exempt@wooster.edu.

• How does the booster requirement affect testing policies on campus this spring? 
  • We will be making decisions about testing policies for spring semester in early January, as more knowledge about Omicron will be available at that time. (We will definitely test all students upon arrival for spring semester.)

• Are other policies changing for this spring?
  • We will be reviewing and making decisions about other COVID policies in early January, as more knowledge about Omicron will be available at that time.

If you have other questions, please send them to wooster-covid-19@wooster.edu . Thank you for all your commitment to keeping our community safe and healthy!  We wish you wonderful holidays and look forward to seeing you back in Wooster soon.

Sincerely,

The COVID Task Force

Sarah Bolton, President
Myrna Hernández, VP for Student Affairs
Angela Johnston, Chief of Staff
Lisa Perfetti, Provost
Jim Prince, VP for Finance and Business

Posted in Community Message on December 22, 2021.