WPI Booster Requirement

Department(s):

Office of the President

This message was sent to the WPI community:

As we saw this fall, our high rates of vaccination helped keep our COVID-19 case rates low and largely protected our community from serious illness; we want to continue those trends as we head into C-Term/spring semester.  Currently COVID-19 cases are rising nationwide, and a surge in cases is predicted for around mid-January, especially given the rapidly emerging presence of the highly contagious Omicron variant.  Accordingly, the CDC recommends that everyone age of 18+ get a vaccine booster shot as soon as they are eligible, and WPI will now require all students, faculty, and staff receive a vaccine booster shot by January 18, 2022, or within 30 days of becoming eligible, whichever is later. Check the CDC page for details about vaccine-specific eligibility.

While more details are forthcoming, I do want to strongly encourage anyone who has not already gotten one to act now and get a booster while on break:

  • Students from other states planning to get their shot over Winter Break should check their home state’s public health website

The booster will allow us to strengthen our community’s protection against COVID and will help allow our campus community to function more normally. As has been the case throughout this pandemic, WPI continues to base our operational decisions on our campus case rate; our capacity to manage cases; and local, state, and federal public health guidelines.

Time and again, I have seen students, faculty, and staff come together to support each other in so many ways, including by protecting our community’s health by wearing masks indoors, testing routinely, and staying home when sick. I thank you for that, and I sincerely wish you all a peaceful and restful break.

Please check We Are WPI site and watch for additional reminders as we plan our return to campus in January.

 

Warmly,

Laurie