The University is nearing the end of its fourth semester modified by the coronavirus pandemic, which continues to impact communities across the globe. Still, most students returned to relative normalcy this semester as the University’s vaccine mandate prevented significant coronavirus spread.
The coronavirus pandemic did not come to a halt within the U.S., with cases decreasing over the course of much of September and October only to bottom out at an average of over 70,000 cases a day before again ticking upward in November, per data from The New York Times.
The Delta variant is significantly more contagious than the original strain. First confirmed in the U.S. in May, it derailed the University’s plan, along with the hopes of many Americans — for a full return to normalcy. In response to rising cases of the Delta variant nationwide, the University again issued an indoor mask mandate Aug. 6.
All students living and learning on Grounds were required to be fully vaccinated, get a religious or medical exemption from vaccination or unenroll from the University. As of Aug. 20, 96.6 percent of students were fully vaccinated, with 2.4 percent of students having a documented vaccination exemption. The University disenrolled 238 students, of whom just 49 had enrolled in classes for the fall when they were disenrolled.
University spokesperson Brian Coy told The Cavalier Daily that University leadership is grateful that community members worked hard to stay safe and allow a successful semester of in-person learning.
“Our community’s high vaccination rate and strong compliance with policies like the indoor mask requirement has helped keep cases low, even in the face of the highly contagious Delta variant,” Coy said.
An early semester scare
Early in the 2021-22 academic year, it appeared the University’s vaccine mandate and the mask mandate may not have stifled the spread of COVID-19 — cases rose early in the semester, peaking at a high of 36 new cases Sept. 9 and 10. This led to concerns from professors and the student body regarding the availability of asymptomatic and symptomatic prevalence testing.
During the spring 2021 semester, students were required to report for prevalence testing once per week. This semester, however, only students who are not vaccinated are required to report for testing on a weekly basis. If a student fails to comply with mandatory testing, punishments increasing in severity will be instituted.
As cases rose, some students did rush to get tested, with more than 1,200 COVID-19 tests conducted Sept. 9 alone. This trend did not hold for long, as the average number of tests plummeted to less than 500 by the end of the month.
Even as testing decreased, the seven-day average percent positivity rate — a measure showing the percentage of tests that return a positive result — held below 5 percent, suggesting a low transmission rate among the student body.
Asst. Sociology Prof. Ian Mullins said that early on in the semester, he struggled with students showing up to classes sick. Mullins also said he thinks the University cultivated “strategic ignorance” by calling Grounds the safest place to be while simultaneously not doing the testing to confirm that idea.
“There's this claim that we keep hearing, whether it's through emails or recorded town halls, U.Va. is telling us that Grounds is the safest place we can be, and that's the claim that's used to shift responsibility,” Mullins said. “I don't know how they can have trust in that claim, when they're not doing the type of testing that is necessary to actually measure the rate of infection amongst students.”
For faculty and staff, for whom a vaccine requirement will not be enforced until Jan. 4, 2022, the semester’s success was more muddled. In fall 2020, before vaccines were available to anyone in the University community, 509 faculty, staff and contracted employees tested positive. In spring 2020, the worst semester for students, 451 faculty, staff and contracted employees tested positive. This semester, despite a faculty vaccination rate of 95 percent as of Oct. 21, 509 faculty, staff and contracted employees have tested positive for the virus.
A semester of masking
The University first announced the extension of its mask mandate Oct. 1, pushing a further decision on keeping the preventative measure through the end of the semester until Nov. 1. In the same email, Provost Liz Magill and Chief Operating Officer J.J. Davis announced that masks and proof of vaccination would be required at ticketed events at John Paul Johns Arena, including at men’s basketball games. In another email Oct. 22, Magill and Davis announced that the mask mandate would continue throughout the fall 2021 semester
Since then, students have no longer had to wear masks while using cardiovascular exercise equipment or participating in group exercise classes or while performing in for-credit artistic productions, a change that allowed the Cavalier Marching Band to play again in Scott Stadium at football games.
Some students and members of the Cavalier Marching Band initially took umbrage with the University’s rule preventing the band from playing in the stands while all other visitors were allowed to watch games unmasked.
Fourth-year College student Aster Rasnic, who plays the alto saxophone for the band, said the band was not told until the day before the first home game of the season against William & Mary that they could not play in the stands.
“We can't really help but wonder exactly who we're protecting, seeing as I saw maybe six people in the stands outside of the band who were masked,” Rasnic said.
A petition that garnered more than 8,500 signatures precipitated the announcement that the band could again play in the stands.
What does spring 2022 look like?
According to Coy, the University is still finalizing its plans for the spring semester.
“Overall, we are grateful for how our community has responded to this pandemic so far and pleased that so many elements of a ‘normal’ U.Va. experience have been possible this semester thanks to those efforts,” Coy said, adding that the University expects to make an announcement in the coming weeks.
So far, the University has not made any announcements about getting students booster shots, though the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that individuals now obtain a booster shot six months after receiving a Moderna or Pfizer vaccine or two months after a Johnson and Johnson dose. Students, faculty and staff are eligible and have been receiving booster shots, with U.Va Health as a possible provider.
With the state of the pandemic again worsening in the U.S. as the seven-day average of new cases rises, it is unclear whether University leadership will feel comfortable dropping the mask mandate. In addition, the emergence of the new Omicron variant may add a new wrinkle to the spring semester.
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