Dear Members of the Georgetown University Community,
As we approach the Thanksgiving holiday, I’m writing to share several important updates and express gratitude for the steps each of you have taken to protect the health and safety of our community this semester. I’m especially grateful that thanks to your cooperation, the recent increase in positive COVID-19 cases on the Main Campus has subsided, and infection rates across our campuses remain low. To continue to protect ourselves, our family and friends, and our Georgetown community, please gather safely over the Thanksgiving break and get tested when you return to campus.
Post-Thanksgiving Testing
Georgetown community members who will be on campus after the Thanksgiving break will need to get tested upon their return to campus, regardless of whether they have traveled or remained in the local area.
- Residential students must get tested within 3 days of returning to campus.
- All other students, faculty and staff need to test within 5 days of their return to campus.
- You may schedule your free test on campus via the One Medical mobile app or website.
- In addition to completing this post-Thanksgiving testing, community members who have been granted an exemption from vaccination and who are required to test regularly as a condition of their exemption must continue to test in accordance with the University’s COVID-19 Testing Protocol, which currently requires testing twice each week for unvaccinated individuals.
Booster Shot Clinics
As a follow-up to my October 27 message on COVID-19 vaccine booster shots, I’m pleased to share that we will hold on-campus booster shot clinics for students, faculty and staff on:
- Friday, December 3, 1 – 7 p.m., and
- Saturday, December 4, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
Please register in advance. The clinics will be held at the Faculty Club in the Leavey Center (across from the patio leading to the Hariri Building). We also are looking into the possibility of holding a booster shot clinic on the Law Center campus and will provide more information if it’s possible.
I strongly recommend that everyone get a booster shot as soon as they are eligible (i.e., 2 months after receiving the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, or 6 months after receiving the second dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech or Moderna vaccine). In particular, anyone who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine should prioritize getting a booster shot based on emerging evidence that the immunity provided by this vaccine wanes faster than the immunity provided by mRNA vaccines (e.g., Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna). Pharmacies near our campuses also have booster shot appointments available. Please visit Vaccines.gov to find the closest vaccination site to you.
We will be offering the Moderna booster vaccine. The Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have authorized and supported the mixing and matching of vaccines for booster doses, so you may get a Moderna booster shot regardless of the vaccine you received for your primary series.
The Moderna booster is a lower dose than the primary series (i.e., the first or second dose). If you are still in the process of getting your first or second shot, or are immunocompromised, you need the full dose vaccine. We will not be offering the full dose of Moderna, so please get vaccinated at a pharmacy or your doctor’s office.
As a reminder, staff may use COVID-19 PTO for their booster shot appointment and to recover from any short-term side effects of the vaccine. If a staff member has already used all of their COVID-19 PTO, they may request to use donated PTO by completing a time off request in GMS through the Request Donated PTO time off plan.
If you get a booster shot, please upload documentation of this dose via the GU360 mobile app or GU360 website.
Our on-campus clinic will be run by the University’s Public Health team, the Office of Emergency Management, faculty from the School of Nursing & Health Studies and Department of Family Medicine, the Student Health Center and student volunteers. I wish to thank all of the students, faculty and staff who will help run the clinic for sharing their time and talent with our community.
Spring 2022 Vaccination Deadline
As a reminder, all students, faculty and staff on one of Georgetown’s campuses or in a University-owned or operated building in the United States, and teleworking employees, must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 or have an approved medical or religious exemption. For the Spring 2022 semester, students who are newly enrolled, coming to campus for the first time or returning from leave, and faculty and staff who are newly hired or did not teach or work for Georgetown during the Fall 2021 semester, must submit documentation showing they are fully vaccinated or apply for a medical or religious exemption by Friday, December 3.
Finally, international students should take note of recent changes to U.S. travel requirements. Non-U.S. citizens and non-U.S. immigrants (e.g., not a U.S. citizen, U.S. national, lawful permanent resident, or traveling to the United States on an immigrant visa) must be fully vaccinated to travel to the United States by plane, with limited exceptions, and will be required to show a negative COVID-19 test result or documentation of recovery from COVID-19.
If you have any questions, please contact the University’s Care Navigator team at covidcarenavigator@georgetown.edu.
Thank you, and I hope you have a happy and safe Thanksgiving holiday.
Sincerely,
Ranit Mishori, M.D., MHS, FAAFP
Professor of Family Medicine, Vice President and Chief Public Health Officer