Dear Students:

We hope you enjoyed the holidays and are having a safe and relaxing break.

As we prepare for the first day of spring semester classes on Tuesday, Jan. 18, we wanted to let you know the health and safety protocols we’ve established for the semester.

1. VACCINE BOOSTERS will be required by TUESDAY, FEB. 1, 2022, if you are eligible for one — six months after your second dose of Moderna, five months after your second dose of Pfizer, or two months after your J&J vaccine. Students should upload their proof of booster using the Student Health Portal. Instructions can be found here.If you won’t be eligible by Feb. 1, you will have 30 days from your first date of eligibility to get a booster. (Students who received medical and religious vaccine exemptions in the fall won’t be required to get a booster.)

   
   We strongly encourage eligible students to receive their booster BEFORE RETURNING to campus.

   New state and CDC directives mandate that close contacts of positive cases will have to QUARANTINE FOR FIVE DAYS if they are eligible for a booster and haven’t received one yet. Moreover, close contacts who are required to quarantine may have to return home to quarantine if space isn’t available on campus.

   Students who don’t receive their booster by Feb. 1 – or within 30 days of the date they become eligible to receive one – will be subject to disciplinary actions.

   The university is working with Cattaraugus County to host a booster clinic on campus before Feb. 1. Studies have shown that the booster drastically improves your chances of not contracting COVID, or experiencing much milder symptoms if you do.
   
   With the rapid spread of the Omicron variant, we realize many students may have had COVID over the break. For those who did, we hope you’ve fully recovered and are doing well. Students who have had COVID still must receive the booster. You are eligible to receive a booster as soon as you’ve completed your isolation and are free of symptoms.

   However, students who have had COVID-19 within 90 days of their arrival date to campus are still required to get a booster, but they are allowed to wait until day 91 after the date they received their positive diagnosis. Students must provide medical documentation (clinical record of a positive result) or health department isolation paperwork through the Student Health Portal. For example: If you received your positive COVID test result on Jan. 1, you would have to get your booster no more than 30 days after April 1.
   
   But to be clear, people can receive a booster as early as the day after they’ve finished their COVID isolation; it’s not necessary to wait 90 days.
   
   A student body that’s fully vaccinated and boosted will greatly improve our chances of having a spring semester without interruption.
   
   NOTE: The booster mandate does not pertain to fully online graduate students.

2. COVID tests ARE NOT REQUIRED prior to arriving at St. Bonaventure. However, if you are experiencing any COVID symptoms within 48 hours of returning to campus, we strongly encourage you to be tested for COVID before leaving for St. Bonaventure. If you are positive, please stay home and isolate and contact Health Services at 716-375-2310 or healthservices@sbu.edu to explain your situation.
   
   
3. In accordance with new state Health Department guidance issued in December, MASKS WILL BE REQUIRED — regardless of vaccination status — inside all campus facilities except residence halls, while eating in campus dining facilities, at Bonnies men’s or women’s basketball games (since vaccines are now required for attendance), and if employees are alone in their offices.

We hope you enjoy the rest of your time off and look forward to seeing you in a couple weeks.

Dr. Joseph Zimmer, acting president
and the COVID-19 Task Force