Dear Widener Community,

The U.S. Supreme Court blocked OSHA’s COVID-19 vaccine and testing mandate that called for large employers to either require the COVID-19 vaccine, or test workers for the virus. Under the decision, workplaces like Widener may still choose to require their employees be vaccinated or test regularly. This action does not change Widener’s policy requiring vaccinations and boosters for our employees and students.

We adopted our vaccination and subsequent booster policy to help protect the health and well-being of our community. Vaccines and boosters have proven to reduce severity of illness and hospitalizations. And based on the CDC’s updated guidelines, anyone fully vaccinated and boosted is no longer required to quarantine after an exposure to someone with COVID if they continue to wear a mask for 10 days.

With every member of the university community compliant with our vaccination policy, we can minimize time lost and more effectively keep everyone learning, working, and engaging with one another in person on our vibrant campuses. If you have not received your booster and uploaded your updated card, please do so as soon as possible. The deadline is Friday, January 21st.

Although it has peaked in our region, as the omicron variant continues to spread, we anticipate that cases may increase with our return to in-person classes on January 24. We expect this increase to be temporary and not to disrupt our plan for in-person classes.

Masks are another important layer of protection and will continue to be required indoors on our campuses. We strongly recommend wearing an N95, KN95, or KF94 mask, or double masking with a cloth mask and a surgical mask. These options provide the best defense for you, and for everyone in our university community.

As always, you must stay home when you are sick or have any symptoms.

Health care is a personal responsibility and amid a public health crisis like COVID-19, it also becomes a community responsibility. We appreciate all you do to keep our community healthy and to allow us to return to the in-person experience we value so highly.

With pride,
Julie E. Wollman, PhD
President

Share Link: https://www.widener.edu/news/leadership/wideners-vaccine-booster-requirement