Wednesday, April 24, 2024

MSU to drop mask mandate May 16, updates COVID-19 directives for coming semesters

April 15, 2022
<p>Kamaya Young fills vaccine syringes, sorting them by vaccine, during the COVID-19 vaccine booster clinic at the Breslin Center on Jan. 26, 2022.</p>

Kamaya Young fills vaccine syringes, sorting them by vaccine, during the COVID-19 vaccine booster clinic at the Breslin Center on Jan. 26, 2022.

Photo by Devin Anderson-Torrez | The State News

According to an email from President Samuel L. Stanley Jr., COVID-19 directives have been updated. The vaccine and booster mandate will remain in place for the summer, fall 2022 and spring 2023 semesters.

However, starting May 16, the mask mandate will be lifted from classrooms, academic labs and most research labs, subject to state and federal guidelines.

The Early Detection Program and PCR testing at the Clinical Center will end on May 13.

“We continue to see a sustained drop in COVID‑19 cases on campus, and with the wide availability of PCR, antigen and home testing in the community, the EDP and Clinical Center testing that were crucial to our success earlier in the pandemic can safely be discontinued now,” Stanley said in the email.

MSU's COVID-19 dashboard shows a vaccination rate of about 94% self-reported vaccinations and about 87% of self-reported boosters.

Stanley said in the email this “has been an essential component in our success, creating a safer community for our students, faculty and staff to live, work and learn. All students, faculty, and staff must either receive a vaccine and one booster or have applied for and received an exemption.”

He encourages the MSU community to respect others' health decisions during the pandemic.

“Even as much of society returns to a more normal environment, we must remember the significant impact that COVID‑19 has had, and is still having, on many members of our community. Now, more than ever, is a time for civility, empathy and respect,” Stanley said in the email.

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