COVID Update

Email highlights

• We are continuing to offer vaccines to eligible faculty and staff, and we expect to have invited everyone eligible per state guidelines and planning to work on campus this spring to receive an on-campus vaccination on or by April 16.
• When Colorado enters phase two, general population, we look forward to offering vaccinations to students.
• Even those who are vaccinated must follow our COVID-19 mitigation protocols, including mask wearing, social distancing, and required testing. Required quarantining after travel is no longer required for those fully vaccinated, with some exceptions.

Dear DU faculty and staff,

As we move into spring quarter and continue spring semester for law, we wanted to provide important updates regarding on campus policies and vaccination.

We enjoyed a very low positivity rate in winter due in large part to excellent compliance with our protocols, including regular testing, and generally favorable conditions in Denver. Unfortunately, a number of colleges and universities have seen COVID-19 infection spikes following spring break, and we are seeing an increase in variants in Denver and on campus. We have communicated our testing and quarantine expectations and protocols with students to work together to avoid a similar spike at DU as students return to campus.

Importantly, as we start spring term, we will not provide grace periods for missed tests, including for people who are fully vaccinated. In addition, masks and social distancing are still required on campus for everyone. Travel restrictions remain in place, and quarantine is required for travel to restricted states.

If we are able to maintain or return quickly to low positivity, we will revisit and possibly modify these requirements. For now, please test on schedule and follow all the protocols. If you are joining our on-campus community for the first time this spring, please visit the DU COVID protocols page, and follow the return to campus steps needed following your requirements as listed on the campus access status link on the top left of Pioneerweb.

Vaccination Eligibility and Status
We are continuing to support vaccination of people on campus who are currently eligible under the state’s phased vaccination plan. For DU’s purposes, this includes all faculty, staff and student employees working, living and learning on campus as of March 21. Everyone eligible can also download an eligibility letter on the campus access status portal on PioneerWeb. This letter can be used to help obtain vaccination at local health providers, pharmacies and pop-up clinics. I am also happy to report that we have extended vaccination invitations to all of our high-contact staff (as defined in our vaccine protocol) and are now focused on inviting remaining eligible faculty and staff using a weekly lottery. We appreciate everyone’s patience with this process developed under the Vaccine Working Group’s guidance.

In partnership with National Jewish Health, if and when we receive our requested vaccine allocation, we anticipate inviting all eligible DU personnel (who intend to work on campus this spring) for vaccination on campus on or before April 16. To meet this ambitious goal, we have planned first dose vaccination events expected to take place on March 26 and April 1, 8 and 11. We are not able to pre-schedule as we are never certain of our vaccine availability. However, as soon as we have the vaccine in hand, we will extend invitations through the lottery system. We will attempt to vaccinate as many eligible DU staff who plan to work on campus this spring as possible but again, we encourage all DU personnel to take advantage of other vaccination opportunities through your health care provider or other means, if possible.

Once we have extended an offer to everyone eligible via DU employment under the state’s current phase, 1B.4, and earlier phases, we will send invitations to faculty and staff eligible for other reasons (age, medical conditions, non-DU employment). We also encourage everyone currently eligible to pursue vaccination at health care providers, pharmacies and the like and to join the waitlist at njhealth.org. Our health partner, National Jewish Health, provides appointments at DU and at their campus. As soon as the governor opens phase two (general population), perhaps as early as April 15, we look forward to extending vaccination opportunities to our students. For each vaccine event we work with community partners to extend vaccination opportunities to underserved communities.

Guidance for Vaccinated Individuals
At this time, being fully vaccinated does not exempt you from required testing, mask wearing, or social distancing while on campus. We are closely monitoring the situation and will revise these protocols as soon as it is deemed safe enough to do so.

However, vaccinated individuals are not required to quarantine following an exposure or travel unless they have been exposed to someone known or suspected to be positive for a COVID-19 variant. This information regarding variant exposure may come via DU contact tracers or via Denver’s contact tracers. To be eligible for quarantine exemptions, your vaccine record must be uploaded in your myhealth.du.edu record, and two weeks must have passed since your final vaccination.

Thank you for all that you do to keep our community safe and thriving in these challenging conditions. As the weather improves and vaccinations continue, we sincerely hope we can lighten restrictions and enjoy each other’s company more freely.

As always, please send your questions, suggestions and concerns to COVIDcoordinator@du.edu.

Sincerely,

Sarah Watamura
COVID-19 Response Coordinator