A Message from Interim President John W. Mills:
Dear NVU Students, Faculty, and Staff,
As our students head off for their first break of the semester, I am writing to update you on where we are at with the pandemic here at NVU.
First, thank you for the tremendous commitment each of you have made to safety on our campuses. You have shown that through good masking, arrival testing, vaccination, reporting of test results, and all the rest of the safety protocols and practices necessary to keep our community safe.
At this time, we are at 53 cases reported since January 1. This number includes students and employees reporting from campus and home. The numbers are updated weekly at NorthernVermont.edu/COVID-19.
Like everyone, we are watching the case counts around us on a local, statewide, and national basis. We are seeing reduced daily case counts in our state and in Caledonia and Lamoille Counties. The state has announced that they will support K-12 schools lifting mask mandates when the schools reach an 80% vaccination threshold.
As stated to the community last fall, we are committed to reevaluating the indoor mask mandate when the CDC downgrades our two counties to “moderate” or “low” transmission. Another important factor in that decision is our own vaccination rate and that includes the booster. We are approaching 50% with more work to be done.
Students, you are required to get the booster shot and you are also required to verify the booster at NorthernVermont.edu/Covid19Vaccination. Boosting is our best defense against the pandemic.
Students are strongly encouraged to test at home prior to returning to campus following the upcoming break. NVU will expand access to rapid tests for students upon return beginning on Monday, February 28. Check your NVU email and the NVU Covid website for details.
Students, please practice our #STAY HEALTHYNVU Health and Safety Protocols while on break. Have fun, rest up, and be safe!
I look forward to seeing you on your return!
John
Interim President John W. Mills
