Author: Eleftheria Giannopoulos

Mason Patriots,

The CDC and FDA have approved and recommended booster doses for certain individuals who received any of the three Covid-19 vaccines available in the U.S.

Pfizer and Moderna boosters are available for eligible individuals who completed their initial series at least six months ago. Eligible individuals include:

• People 65 years and older
• People age 18 to 64 years with underlying medical conditions
• People age 18 to 64 years who are at increased risk due to occupational or institutional settings

Individuals who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine are also eligible for a booster of any of the three vaccines available in the U.S., two months after their initial vaccine.

Pfizer and Moderna boosters are available at Mason.  The vaccine clinic is open at Fenwick A on the Fairfax Campus, noon to 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. Schedule your vaccine appointment here(vaccine.gmu.edu) through the office of Safety, Emergency, and Enterprise Risk Management.    

At your appointment, be prepared to present your COVID Vaccination card (preferred) or other record that documents your previous vaccinations.  Please also bring a form of identification that verifies your name and date of birth. You do not need to provide proof of your medical condition, activities, or occupation.

Initial vaccine series of Pfizer and Moderna are still available.

Mason does not plan to offer vaccines to the 5-11 year-old age group.

Thank you for doing your part to protect the Mason Nation.  For more information on Mason’s ongoing COVID-19 response please visit Mason’s Safe Return to Campus website.

Sincerely,

Safety, Emergency, & Enterprise Risk Management

Fellow Patriots:

I have good news to share regarding George Mason University’s fight to contain COVID-19. As we enter week six of the Fall 2021 semester, trends are looking very positive. For reasons I will explain fully in this message, I am pleased to share that soon we will significantly reduce required COVID testing for most who are fully vaccinated, and will offer free tests to any member of the university community who wishes to be tested, regardless of their vaccination status. The Mason community has earned this rollback in testing through its collective diligence in taking the many precautions to keep COVID at bay.

How we got here

As you know, for a safe and responsible fall reopening, we required all students, faculty, and staff to be vaccinated or attain an approved medical or religious exemption, and report their vaccination status. We have required that the unvaccinated be tested weekly and physically distance. We have tested thousands of students and employees per week, regardless of vaccination status, surpassing surveillance testing standards of other Virginia universities. And finally, we have maintained a mask mandate for indoors and close-contact outdoor settings.

This community has taken this fight seriously. Masks are worn across campus, and 96 percent of our students and 91 percent of our faculty and staff either are vaccinated or have received exemptions from vaccination.

As a result, we are consistently tracking just 80 to 90 cases each week, amid a university community of 50,000. Most of those cases are mild breakthrough infections among those who are vaccinated, because the vaccinated make up the vast majority of the Mason community.

Overall, our positivity rate has ranged from 1.06 percent among unvaccinated students living off-campus to as little as 0.23 percent among vaccinated employees. Best of all, we have not seen a post-Labor Day spike in cases that we were watching closely for.

Patriots, our hard work and diligence is paying off. We are keeping COVID at bay.

Transition

Based on the stability of the campus environment, and following public health guidance, mandatory weekly COVID testing will end for the vast majority of Mason community members starting Monday, September 27, namely those who are fully vaccinated. However, any employee or student who would like to be tested may do so – we welcome you to receive a free test on campus.

We will continue to require the following testing requirements for specific populations:

• Twice a week – all unvaccinated residential students and student athletes.
• Once a week – all unvaccinated students, faculty, and staff in high-contact roles, as well as all vaccinated student athletes.  You will be contacted by the university for testing if you meet this criterion.
• Once every two weeks – all vaccinated residential students and non-residential students, faculty and staff that are in high contact roles who are vaccinated.  You will be contacted by the university for testing if you meet this criterion.

While non-high contact vaccinated employees and students will no longer be required to undergo periodic surveillance testing, circumstances throughout the semester may warrant ad hoc, circumstantial testing, such as a localized spike in cases, or after a large on-campus event in which attendees have been in a crowded setting for extended periods. In those cases, should you receive an email to be tested, you must follow the guidance and get tested.  We also strongly encourage these individuals to come and test at any test site anytime they are concerned.

All students and faculty who do not have a 100 percent remote or online exemption are still required to complete the Mason COVID Health Check daily, as well as observe our mask policy, and stay off campus if you feel sick. We are getting the upper hand on COVID at Mason, but this battle is not over yet – while celebration is in order, so is continued smart management of our community. We will continue to make adjustments as conditions warrant.

The semester is young, but it is off to a very positive start, and that is because of you, fellow Patriots. Keep up the great work. I’ll see you around our campuses.

Sincerely,

Gregory Washington
President

Fellow Patriots:

Fall 2021 at George Mason University is off to a very promising start. Despite the persistence of COVID-19, we have safely reopened our campuses to another record number of students.

The biggest success factor is you. More than 91 percent of Mason students, faculty, and staff are vaccinated, and nearly 94 percent of the community have uploaded their vaccination status, putting us in a very strong position to stay ahead of COVID-19 and its variants.

As the semester progresses, coronavirus presents a tremendous threat to those who are exempt from or unable to receive a vaccine, and even to some vaccinated individuals, who experience “breakthrough” cases of COVID. This is why we are conducting business a little differently than other Virginia universities. I want to explain what is – and just as importantly, what is not – happening at Mason.

Large-scale surveillance testing
This month, we are initiating the largest-scale surveillance testing protocol of any Virginia university, in which our goal is to test up to 13,000 members of the Mason community each week. By comparison, other Virginia universities are testing 500 to 3,000 individuals a week, with a focus on testing only those who are not vaccinated. Because the Delta variant of COVID-19 can occur even among the vaccinated, we are initiating a “dragnet” approach to find and isolate the virus wherever we can, and that includes testing those of us who are vaccinated, as well.

If you receive an email asking you to get tested, please do so regardless of your vaccine status.

Comprehensive notifications
Our outbreak mitigation and management team are also notifying every student, faculty, and staff member who may have been exposed to someone testing positive for COVID. These notifications include anyone in a student’s classroom, and can result in one positive case triggering multiple notifications to the same people if they have multiple points of contact, such as having more than one class together. For some, this has created the unintended perception that COVID cases are more widespread than they actually are.

In fact, our numbers remain remarkably low. Since August 23, we are tracking 83 positive cases among our 50,000 students, faculty, and staff. Our overall positivity rate among those being tested is 0.42%.

Expanded options for getting tested
Because Mason currently has sufficient testing capacity, for everyone’s safety, we are able to expand our surveillance testing. If you receive notification from Mason of a positive case in your classroom or work areas you are welcome to participate in surveillance testing if you are asymptomatic. Go to one of our on-campus surveillance test sites.

If you would like to self-select for an on-demand surveillance test you may do so, as long as capacity is available, at the Johnson Center on the Fairfax Campus on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.  Please be aware you may experience wait times of up to 30 minutes. For all surveillance testing, please remember not to eat or drink anything for 30 minutes before your test.

If you are experiencing symptoms please contact your primary health care provider and do not come to Mason’s campuses.

Reminders for health and safety protocols 

• The Mason COVID Health Check is your ally. Complete it every day, no matter what. Faculty are encouraged to ask students to show their Health Check as a condition of attending in-person class. Students, faculty, and staff who cannot produce green Health Check emails should not be in our classrooms or on campus.
• Masks are required in all indoor settings unless actively eating or drinking. Students needing masks can go to the information desk in SUB 1 or the Student Involvement office in the HUB, Suite 2300, where masks are available free of charge. All students in classrooms must properly wear their masks such that they are covering both their nose and mouth.
• And as always, good hand hygiene through handwashing or use of hand sanitizer, completing the Mason COVID Health Check each day, and staying home if you feel unwell are all critical parts of our public health strategy.

Mason is weathering this phase of the pandemic admirably – because of you. Patriots, let’s keep it up! Have a healthy, safe, and productive semester.

Sincerely,

Gregory Washington
President