Boston University will be permanently closing its COVID-19 Clinical Testing Laboratory and transitioning to a tiered vaccination policy starting May 23, according to an email sent to students from Judy Platt, Chief Health Officer and Executive Director Student Health Services.
Platt wrote in the email that SHS “strongly recommends” that everyone in the BU community remain up to date with their COVID-19 vaccinations. All faculty, students and staff who provide “direct patient-facing healthcare” will still be required to provide COVID-19 vaccination documentation and after May 23 students will need to schedule an appointment at SHS to take a PCR test.
“We kept our testing facility and practices in place longer than many other universities across the country in order to allow more time for us to get a better sense of COVID’s trajectory,” Platt wrote. “It is possible that our protocols around vaccination could change in the future, but I think we have tried to strike the right balance given the current landscape of more accessible COVID vaccines, effective treatments, access to masks and rapid testing options available to the public.”
Platt wrote that BU follows state protocols to determine COVID-19 regulations on campus.
“The state protocols and requirements must be followed,” Platt wrote. “We can always enact stricter policies, which we did for much of the pandemic, but we have to follow state regulation always.”
Leo Austin-Spooner, a sophomore in the Wheelock College of Education and Human Development, said BU’s new COVID-19 policies make him upset and concerned for the future.
“It’s just simply not fair to people who will get really sick and for people who don’t have the ability to recover from COVID,” Austin-Spooner said. “It’s valuing some people’s minor inconvenience over some people’s lives.”
Austin-Spooner said he believes BU’s original COVID-19 policies should have never changed.
“I would like to see them go back to the weekly testing that we had before that was free and accessible PCR testing, whether that be people going to get their PCR tests in the building or people getting a take home test,” he said. “Cost is a big barrier for people in terms of testing and masking and eliminating that barrier would be really helpful.”
Michelle Ramoska, a senior in the College of Engineering, said at-home testing is more accessible for certain people.
“It doesn’t really affect me as much because I was already using at-home tests rather than BU’s testing,” Ramoska said. “I did have COVID recently, and I didn’t really want to travel to a testing site and put other people at risk.”
Ramoska said communication about COVID-19 outbreaks and policies is important.
“Communication is important because I’ve had professors say they live with their parents or elderly [people],” Ramoska said. “I would definitely wear a mask in that situation as long as it was communicated to me so I think it’s just case by case.”
David Garcia, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said wearing a mask and following previous BU COVID protocols has become more of a “personal habit.”
“I still wear the mask every time I go out, especially if I’m in an indoor setting,” Garcia said. “I would say that it could still be fine to encourage mass use but not require it, but I’ve noticed that in many classes I’m the only one left wearing a mask.”
Platt said that wastewater tracking can be a good way for people to get a sense of how much COVID is spreading. Massachusetts daily confirmed COVID cases have been on a steady decrease since Jan. 3, and have reached a new low of 82 as of April 4, according to mass.gov.
“Times of transition can be particularly difficult, and we know that while COVID has affected everyone to some degree, there are a significant number of our community members who have been or will be more severely impacted by COVID whether due to their personal health or the health concerns of family and friends,” Platt wrote. “My advice is to stay up to date with all COVID-19 boosters and if there is any concern about transmission then grab a mask.”
Very nice article, totally what I was looking for.