Dear Tritons,
First and foremost, we sincerely hope that you are enjoying Winter Break with friends and loved ones, and that you are continuing to stay safe and healthy.
With the new COVID-19 Omicron variant spreading quickly – and because last year’s winter travel precipitated the largest infection spike since the start of the pandemic – we’d like to share with you some recent guidance on booster shot effectiveness, new return-to-campus testing requirements, and international vaccine recommendations from the CDC to ensure that all Tritons begin Winter Quarter 2022 with the safety of our community in mind.
Level Up Your Protection With a Booster
The rise in case rates throughout the country – coupled with the presence of the highly transmissible Omicron variant in San Diego – serves as an important reminder that a full vaccination series (first, second, AND booster doses) is the most important and effective way to protect yourself and those around you.
Receiving a booster dose significantly reduces the risk of:
- Getting infected
- Transmitting disease to others
- Severe complications if infected
- Emergence of new variants like Omicron or Delta
If you haven’t already done so, we encourage you to receive your booster from a non-UC San Diego provider while you're off campus for the holidays. After your dose, you'll be able to upload your vaccination info by sending a message via the "Ask a Nurse" function in MyStudentChart.
For those staying in the San Diego area during Winter Break,
appointments are still available at the Price Center and UC San Diego Health sites in La Jolla and Hillcrest.
Protect Yourself, Provide for Others.
As a reminder, every student who receives their booster shot brings us closer to achieving
our goal of getting 10K students boosted before the end of the year – in support of additional allocation of existing resources for food security, housing, and financial wellness for all Tritons.
Pre-Winter Quarter Testing Requirement
To help suppress the spread of travel-related infection,
students will be required to
complete a COVID-19 test immediately before returning to in-person activities on UC San Diego premises after Winter Break –
regardless of vaccination status.
