The University of Vermont has reinstated an indoor mask requirement for all faculty, staff, students, and visitors on campus.

“We will continue to monitor the rate of COVID-19 cases on campus, in Vermont, and across the region and will adjust this requirement if conditions warrant,” noted Patricia A. Prelock, Provost and Senior Vice President and Gary Derr, Vice President for Operations and Public Safety, in a message to the campus community.

The new guidance was developed in accordance with guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the Vermont Department of Health (VDH), and the Vermont Occupational Safety and Health Administration (VOSHA).

UVM has developed additional information and guidance on wearing masks.

Vaccination

In July, the UVM Board of Trustees Executive Committee unanimously endorsed a plan to require COVID-19 vaccination for all students enrolled this fall. “Based on strong support from our faculty and staff, we expect everyone on the UVM campus—faculty, staff, students, and visitors—to be vaccinated,” Prelock and Derr wrote.

Current data show that more than 90 percent of new and returning UVM students are vaccinated—and that rate continues to rise as more students report their vaccination status. Chittenden County’s overall 18 to 29-year-old vaccination rate stands at 62 percent.

“UVM, state, and federal public health and infectious disease experts continue to emphasize that vaccination is the most effective way to prevent the spread of COVID-19,” Prelock and Derr wrote. “It is also the most effective way to avoid serious illness and hospitalization, if infected.”