Dear UMass Boston faculty, staff, students, and community,
I write you today to announce an evolution of our campus COVID-19 vaccination policy. In alignment with the end of the federal public health emergency on May 11, and Governor Maura Healey’s announcement that Massachusetts will end its own COVID-19 public health emergency, UMass Boston will suspend our vaccination requirement for all faculty, staff, and students effective July 1. As with every judgment we’ve made during the pandemic, we are making this decision after careful consideration of health conditions and public health guidance, as well as consultation with our community stakeholders.
At UMass Boston we will continue to strongly recommend that individuals get vaccinated and boostered when eligible as this is the best individual defense against the COVID-19 virus. The vaccination is widely proven to help prevent severe illness. University Health Services will continue to offer vaccinations, boosters, and testing on demand for all faculty, staff, and students. We will also remain a mask-friendly campus; masks continue to be available in multiple offices across campus.
Since the beginning of the pandemic, UMass Boston has been at the forefront of putting community and campus safety as our number one priority. We were among the first to transition to remote operations, and we acted swiftly with the implementation of vaccination mandates, surveillance testing, and community masking protocols. Going forward, we will continue to rigorously monitor the indicators and the evolving public health situation, so please be aware that our policies may be amended as public health conditions change.
If you have questions, please join us on Wednesday, May 10, at 3 p.m. in the Chancellor's Conference Room, Quinn Administration Building, for a conversation with Executive Director of University Health Services Robert Pomales.
We would like to thank all our faculty, staff, and students for working together, putting community first, staying vigilant, and for the impassioned ethic of care towards the health and safety of our university community.
Sincerely,
Marcelo Suárez-Orozco
Chancellor