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Dear campus community,
As we look forward to coming back together in August for an in-person fall, we wanted to update you about our COVID-19 policies. Our best tool against the virus is still vaccination. Boone County has the highest vaccination rate in the state with 45.7% of the community completely vaccinated. While faculty, staff and student cases remain very low, Missouri is seeing a spike in cases primarily due to the Delta Variant. Most of these cases are occurring in unvaccinated individuals.
We are working on strategies to improve vaccination uptake among our community. If you have not already done so, begin your vaccination planwherever you are. Even if you get vaccinated elsewhere, we have plans in place so you can receive your second vaccination shot in Columbia, if necessary, no matter what type of vaccine you have received.
If you are not vaccinated, we ask that you take precautions, wear masks and socially distance. Whether fully vaccinated or not, wearing a mask indoors is recommended to help reduce disease transmission. We will continue to closely watch the situation and adjust our policies in collaboration with local, state, and national guidelines; our medical experts; and community partners.
Since we do have a mix of vaccinated and unvaccinated individuals in our community, we need to remain mindful that everyone will make their own decisions about mask wearing and social distancing. Individuals may volunteer their vaccination status but should not be asked about it.
Please, stay home when you are sick – even if you think you only have a cold or new or different allergy symptoms – seek testing and report positive cases. You can see a list of common COVID-19 symptoms here and find general updates on changes we make to protocols at Show Me Renewal. Thank you to everyone for doing your part to help keep our community safe.
Stay safe and go Tigers!
M-I-Z
Mark Diedrich
Incident Commander
MU Incident Command Team
John Middleton
Operations Section Chief
MU Incident Command Team