August 24, 2021
We are working on several fronts to provide additional resources and guidance for further development:
- University Human Resources Management and University of Utah Health executives are investigating the possibility of establishing free asymptomatic COVID-19 tests for all university faculty and staff (with locations on campus and the west side of Salt Lake City). More information on this project will follow shortly.
- University administrations speak with state health and lawmakers as well as the governor’s office to discuss masking policies indoors on campus, including classrooms and other public areas. And since the FDA granted full approval of the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine this week, we’re working with leaders to explore greater flexibility for the university in managing its pandemic response. We hope to receive more news on the outcome of these conversations later this week.
- We continue to encourage all campus community members to get vaccinated or, if not vaccinated, take free weekly asymptomatic tests. These tests are key to our efforts to detect and isolate outbreaks or breakthrough infections.
As our public health experts remind us daily, the only way out of this pandemic is herd immunity. Our campus community is working towards this – around 70% of the students are vaccinated and more than 80% of the beneficiary faculties and employees are vaccinated against COVID-19.
We know that nothing can replace the face-to-face interactions that happen every day on a university campus. We strongly believe that we can keep our campus community safe and open if we continue to promote vaccinations, regular testing, and indoor masking.
Thank you for your resilience, creativity and strength over the past two years. We’ll get through this together as One U!
Taylor Randall
president
Michael Good
Senior Vice President for Health Sciences
Dan Reed
Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
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