UC San Diego’s low positive case rate throughout the COVID-19 pandemic is a reflection of the extraordinary commitment and spirit of collaboration of our entire campus community. Through ongoing compliance and adherence to our campus safety protocols, our students, faculty and staff have demonstrated remarkable care and concern for one another. We are closer than ever to putting the pandemic behind us.
Despite encouraging news that case rates are declining, our work is not yet done. We must continue the practices that we know help keep our campus community safe.
Vaccine Mandate Compliance Booster vaccinations are a key component of the health and safety of our campus community. The deadline has passed for submitting proof that you are up-to-date on vaccination against COVID-19. Those who are eligible for their booster who have not yet received one or obtained an approved exemption risk not only their health and the health of others, but disciplinary action as well.
We are grateful to the many of you who already got their booster. Appointments for vaccine boosters are available for all eligible students and employees at the Price Center on campus and at drive-up locations at our La Jolla and Hillcrest Medical Centers. To review eligibility requirements and schedule COVID-19 vaccine or vaccine booster appointments, students and campus employees should refer to the Return to Learn Vaccination page.
Masking Still Works While vaccination is critical and strategies such as maintaining a safe distance from others in large crowds are helpful in preventing the spread of the virus, wearing a mask in public settings — especially indoors — adds substantial additional protection from infection. Recent declines in virus activity nationwide have led many states, including California, to begin slowly reducing mitigation measures, including widespread masking mandates. But masking still is one of the most effective ways to prevent the spread of the virus. We encourage you to continue to mask up when you are in indoor public spaces off campus. And regardless of vaccination status, everyone in our campus community who is on-site at UC San Diego or its affiliated workspaces must continue to adhere to UC San Diego’s standards for safety, including indoor masking, at this time.
What’s Next UC San Diego is carefully considering the next phase of our approach and how to adapt and maintain the flexibility of our campus safety protocols as we move into a more endemic phase of this ongoing public health situation. We will continue to monitor and analyze the data and trust the expertise of our multidisciplinary team to identify the right time and circumstances to adjust our campus safety protocols, and will communicate any changes with speed and transparency. Information on current campus safety protocols can also be found on the Return to Learn website.
Thank You Our entire campus community has demonstrated remarkable patience, resilience and flexibility as we have adjusted campus operations in response to changing conditions. Thank you. We look forward to updating you again soon.
Pradeep K. Khosla Chancellor
University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA, 92093
