{"id":92738,"date":"2023-04-04T12:54:00","date_gmt":"2023-04-04T16:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/?p=92738"},"modified":"2023-04-04T12:54:00","modified_gmt":"2023-04-04T16:54:00","slug":"spring-2023-covid-19-transitions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/2023\/04\/04\/spring-2023-covid-19-transitions\/","title":{"rendered":"Spring 2023 COVID-19 Transitions"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>To: Boston University Community<br \/>\n<\/strong><strong>From: <span>Judy T. Platt, MD, Chief Health Officer and Executive Director of Student Health Services<br \/>\n<\/span><\/strong><strong>Date: April 4, 2023<br \/>\nRE: Spring 2023 COVID-19 Transitions<\/strong><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_xfluidplugincopy\"><span>Dear Members of our Boston University Community,\u00a0<\/span><span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_xfluidplugincopy\"><span>\u00a0<\/span><span>With the spring semester moving along quickly, I write to share information about our COVID-19 related policies that will begin on\u00a0<b>May 23, 2023<\/b>. These transitions align with the\u00a0<\/span><span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mass.gov\/news\/healey-driscoll-administration-announces-end-of-covid-19-public-health-emergency-in-massachusetts\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-loopstyle=\"link\">state\u2019s acknowledgement<\/a><\/span><span>\u00a0of the ending of the COVID-19 public health emergency in Massachusetts on\u00a0<b>May 11, 2023<\/b>.\u00a0<\/span><span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_xfluidplugincopy\"><span>Please read below for important public health updates about our:\u00a0<\/span><span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li class=\"x_xfluidplugincopy\"><span>COVID-19 vaccination policy\u00a0<\/span><span><\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"x_xfluidplugincopy\"><span>COVID-19 testing on campus<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"x_xfluidplugincopy\"><span>Masking requirements and recommendations\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul type=\"disc\"><\/ul>\n<h4 class=\"x_xfluidplugincopy\"><strong><u>COVID-19 Vaccination Policy<\/u>\u00a0<\/strong><span><\/span><\/h4>\n<p class=\"x_xfluidplugincopy\"><span>The best ways to protect yourself and others against severe COVID-19 infections is to stay up to date with\u202f<\/span><span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mass.gov\/covid-19-vaccine\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-loopstyle=\"link\">COVID-19 vaccines<\/a><\/span><span>,\u202fwear a mask in crowded, indoor spaces, and test if you are not feeling well. We will be transitioning from a university COVID-19 vaccination mandate to a tiered vaccination policy.<\/span><span><\/span><\/p>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li class=\"x_xfluidplugincopy\"><b><span>COVID-19\u00a0<u>General<\/u>\u00a0Population Vaccination Policy<\/span><\/b><span>: We\u00a0<b>strongly recommend<\/b>\u00a0that everyone remain up to date with all\u00a0<\/span><span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/coronavirus\/2019-ncov\/vaccines\/stay-up-to-date.html\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-loopstyle=\"link\">CDC COVID-19 vaccination recommendations<\/a><\/span><span>.\u00a0<\/span><span><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul type=\"disc\">\n<li class=\"x_xfluidplugincopy\"><b><span>COVID-19\u00a0<u>Clinical<\/u>\u00a0Population Vaccination Policy:<\/span><\/b><span>\u00a0All faculty, students, and staff who provide direct patient-facing healthcare will be\u00a0<b>required<\/b>\u00a0to provide documentation of a COVID-19 primary series and booster or submit a religious or medical waiver.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h4 class=\"x_xfluidplugincopy\"><strong><u>COVID-19 Testing<\/u>\u00a0<\/strong><span><\/span><\/h4>\n<p class=\"x_xfluidplugincopy\"><span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=332CadAl63A\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-loopstyle=\"link\">Free PCR testing at BU<\/a><\/span><span>,\u202ffor those with symptoms or exposures, will remain\u202favailable\u202fat the Health Services Annex in the rear of 925 Commonwealth Ave Monday-Friday 9am-5pm through\u00a0<b>May 22, 2023,\u00a0<\/b>and all test results will appear in the confidential online portals by the end of the day on\u00a0<b>May 23, 2023<\/b>. Moving forward from this date, students who need\u00a0<i>PCR testing<\/i>\u00a0should\u00a0<\/span><span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/shs\/getting-started\/using-patient-connect\/\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-loopstyle=\"link\">schedule an appointment<\/a><\/span><span>\u00a0at SHS and employees should seek out\u00a0<i>PCR testing<\/i>\u00a0through urgent care facilities or your personal healthcare provider offices. Our University COVID-19 Clinical Testing Laboratory will also close permanently on\u00a0<b>May 23, 2023.<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><span><\/span><\/p>\n<h4 class=\"x_xfluidplugincopy\"><strong><u>Masking<\/u><\/strong><span>\u00a0<\/span><span><\/span><\/h4>\n<p class=\"x_xfluidplugincopy\"><span>Masks remain\u00a0<b>required in all healthcare<\/b>\u00a0spaces at Boston University until further notice. Our masking policy is currently aligned with the\u00a0<\/span><span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mass.gov\/info-details\/covid-19-mask-requirements#:~:text=Effective%20July%201%2C%202022%2C%20the,condition%2C%20or%20if%20someone%20in\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-loopstyle=\"link\">Massachusetts Department of Public Health COVID-19 mask requirements<\/a><\/span><span>, and we await further updates as the spring progresses. We continue to recommend masking inside your home if you or others in the home are not feeling well or if you have\u00a0<\/span><span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cdc.gov\/coronavirus\/2019-ncov\/hcp\/clinical-care\/underlyingconditions.html\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-loopstyle=\"link\">underlying medical conditions that place you at a higher risk<\/a><\/span><span>\u00a0for severe COVID-19. We also encourage the use of high-quality masks (such as N95s, KN95s, KF94s, and FFP3\/2s) that\u202fcover the nose, mouth, and chin and\u202f<\/span><span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=S7md2Rhr6cI\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-loopstyle=\"link\">fit securely<\/a><\/span><span>\u00a0to reduce the risk of viral transmission.<\/span><span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_xfluidplugincopy\"><span>For more information about COVID-19, students can visit the\u202f<\/span><span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/shs\/covid-19\/\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-loopstyle=\"link\">Student Health Services COVID-19 website<\/a><\/span><span>\u202fand faculty and staff can visit the\u202f<\/span><span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/buohc\/covid-19\/\" data-auth=\"NotApplicable\" data-loopstyle=\"link\">Occupational Health Center COVID-19 website<\/a><\/span><span>.\u00a0<\/span><span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_xfluidplugincopy\"><span><\/span><span>Wishing you all good health this spring and summer,\u00a0<\/span><span><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"x_xfluidplugincopy\"><span>Judy T. Platt, MD\u202f<i>(she\/her\/hers)<\/i><br \/>\nChief Health Officer and Executive Director<br \/>\nStudent Health Services<br \/>\nBoston University\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>To: Boston University Community From: Judy T. Platt, MD, Chief Health Officer and Executive Director of Student Health Services Date: April 4, 2023 RE: Spring 2023 COVID-19 Transitions Dear Members of our Boston University Community,\u00a0 \u00a0With the spring semester moving along quickly, I write to share information about our COVID-19 related policies that will begin [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20706,"featured_media":79140,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[7158,795,54],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92738"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20706"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92738"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92738\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":92740,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92738\/revisions\/92740"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79140"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bumc.bu.edu\/gms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}