COVID-19 campus updates: March 25 edition

Through the spring semester, campus officials are providing weekly updates through CU Boulder Today and weekly Campus Q&As.

Boulder County remains in Level Yellow: Concern

Boulder County remains in Level Yellow: Concern on Colorado’s COVID-19 dial, which the state updated to version 3.0 on Wednesday, March 24. Learn more about what Level Yellow: Concern means for your campus experience.

Update on Fall 2021

Due to the tragedy in Boulder on March 22, the campus update on fall plans, originally scheduled for March 24, will be shared the week of March 29.

Full-semester deadlines extended

Campus has extended the deadlines for undergraduate and graduate students to drop a spring class, request grade replacement and change pass/fail status to March 31. 

Summer 2021 Event Guidance

The campus’s Events and Activity Policy is in effect for this summer. Get additional guidance for summer 2021 events.

Learn more about the COVID-19 vaccines

• 4 reasons to get the COVID-19 vaccine
• Vaccine safety and information from Medical Services
• Answers to common vaccine questions

Vaccine phase 1B.4 began March 19

Phase 1B.4 in the state’s COVID-19 vaccine distribution plan began Friday, March 19. See the full COVID-19 vaccine distribution table for information about the state phases. 

• Phase 1B.4 includes student-facing employees in higher education. Read more on the COVID-19 Vaccination Options webpage to understand what it means to be a student-facing employee. 
• As of March 24, 9,208 faculty, staff and students have signed up for 1B.4 through the CU COVID-19 Vaccine Eligibility and Status Update Form. 
• The timing of having vaccines available for affiliates eligible in 1B.4 remains uncertain and dependent upon weekly vaccine allotments the campus receives from the state. Becoming eligible does not mean affiliates will immediately be contacted to make an appointment. If you are able to receive a vaccine through your primary care provider or other health care facility before you are notified by CU Boulder, you are encouraged to take advantage of your first opportunity.
  • This week, CU Boulder received 440 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine to use toward both first and second doses to be administered in the following week. CU Boulder Medical Services will continue to prepare for increased supply and administration of the COVID-19 vaccine.
• There is an option on the COVID-19 sign-up form to indicate you are a student-facing employee. Completion of the form is based on self-disclosure and includes a self-attestation where you certify that the information you provide is true and correct.

Notification of COVID-19 Vaccine Type

The Janssen (Johnson & Johnson) COVID-19 vaccine is being prioritized by the state for large-scale vaccine clinics. CU Boulder does not anticipate getting more shipments of this vaccine in the near future. 

As CU Boulder faculty, staff and students become eligible, they will now be notified of the specific vaccine that will be administered––Pfizer or Moderna––in their appointment scheduling invitation email. Both of these vaccines require two doses. 

• Once the first dose is administered, you will be automatically scheduled for the second dose of the vaccine at the same time three weeks later for a Pfizer vaccine and four weeks later for a Moderna vaccine. 
• When scheduling your first vaccine appointment, please make sure you can also attend your appointment for your second dose. If you miss your second dose appointment, we can’t determine how quickly you will have another opportunity to receive a second dose through CU Boulder.

COVID-19 vaccine sign-up form

Students, faculty and staff interested in receiving the COVID-19 vaccine through CU Boulder can sign up using the CU Boulder COVID-19 Vaccine Eligibility and Status Update Form. The form must be completed to be added to the campus vaccine eligibility list.

• As of March 24, 21,100 faculty, staff and students had completed the form.
• As of March 24, 775 faculty, staff and students had been fully vaccinated through CU Boulder.
• You do not need to sign up more than once. However, you may revisit the form to change your status or opt out. The number of eligible individuals that will receive an invitation to schedule an appointment will be based on the total number of vaccines received for the present week.
• If you have received your vaccine elsewhere and have signed up before, please update your status on the form and opt out. 

Appointment availability, process

When a vaccine shipment is received, eligible CU Boulder faculty, staff and students who have signed up with the eligibility form will be notified through their colorado.edu email account. The number of eligible individuals who will receive an invitation to schedule an appointment will be based on the total number of vaccines received. Vaccine appointments at CU Boulder are limited and are on a first-come, first-served basis.

• Those who are unable to make an appointment during the allotted time frame or who miss/cancel their appointment will need to wait for the next vaccine availability.
• You are automatically scheduled for your second dose of the vaccine at the same time: three weeks later for a Pfizer vaccine and four weeks later for a Moderna vaccine. 
• Once you receive an initial notification to make an appointment, you will continue to receive appointment eligibility/scheduling prompts each time vaccines arrive at CU Boulder until you receive a vaccine on campus or you opt out of the notifications through the COVID-19 Vaccine Eligibility and Status Update Form.

   

COVID-19 Vaccination Status and Monitoring Testing Requirements

• If you are required to complete weekly monitoring testing based on your role with CU Boulder, you will continue to be required to participate regardless of when/if you are fully vaccinated.

Contact tracing update on case numbers, transmission info

CU Boulder’s contact tracing team handles case investigation and contact tracing for COVID-19 cases among CU affiliates. They investigate cases from diagnostic testing completed at the Public Health Clinic through CU Medical Services and from cases referred to CU by Boulder County Public Health for affiliates tested at community sites.

• Based on more than 2,200 cases since August 2020, investigations conducted by campus case investigators have not identified a known case of COVID-19 transmission in a classroom or lab at CU.
• The number of known COVID-19 cases involving CU affiliates has been decreasing during the spring 2021 semester. Please note, these figures will differ from the CU dashboard because the contact tracing team receives case referrals from community testing sites.
  • January 2021: 320 cases
  • February 2021: 251 cases
  • March 1–24, 2021: 244 cases
• The primary COVID-19 exposures in the investigated cases are small personal gatherings with family and friends and traveling. Cases show the majority of infected individuals gathered with friends and family for meals, birthday parties, holiday gatherings, road trips, vacation and other personal events.
• At this time, fewer than five cases investigated thus far in March 2021 involved someone who was present at the March 6 riot on University Hill.

Faculty, staff and students with questions about potential exposures or quarantine guidance can email contacttracing@colorado.edu or call the contact tracing team at (303) 735-0017.

Find your study spot

• Visit the Find Your Study Spot webpage to see more about spaces available to reserve for studying or eating. Bookable rooms also have posters outside the door with links directly to the CU Boulder Room Scheduling tool.

Campus affiliates can sign in with their IdentiKey and password and no longer have to wait for account approval. Get detailed instructions for scheduling a space with the room scheduling tool.

Monitoring testing hours and locations

The monitoring testing sites at Kittredge Central, the Sustainability Energy & Environment Community (SEEC), Village Center, University Memorial Center (UMC) and Rec Center are open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday.

• Village Center and Community Commons
• Kittredge Central (Room S163)
• University Memorial Center (UMC)
• Rec Center
• Sustainability, Energy & Environment Community (SEEC)  

Updates on utilization:

• The UMC site has been the busiest site. Consider using other sites for faster service. 
• Thursday has been the busiest testing day for the UMC and other sites. Unless Thursday is your assigned testing day, consider completing your monitoring test on a different day.

Sanitation stations at testing sites

A sanitation station has been added to each of the monitoring testing sites, including the mobile testing site, to offer participants a place on site for hand washing. These stations are foot pedal-operated as an added sanitation benefit.

Mobile testing site hours and locations

In addition to the sites across campus, students, staff and faculty with a Buff OneCard can complete their COVID-19 monitoring test at a mobile testing unit. Mobile site locations and hours of operation:

• Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Pleasant Street. 
• Thursday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Athens North, 1855 Athens St., in parking lot 131.

Severe weather conditions may require temporary delays or closures of the mobile testing site.

Travel approval 

Concur has been updated to reflect final approval for domestic travel for university-related business to be considered “approved” once the appropriate officer-level (dean or associate vice chancellor) is achieved. Provost or chief operating officer approval is no longer required for domestic travel. International travel for university-related business still requires approval from the appropriate officer and the provost or COO. Further guidance related to travel approvals is forthcoming from the CU System offices. 

Campus Q&A date change

• The Campus Q&As are held at noon each Tuesday and continue throughout the spring semester. 
• NOTE: To respect the memorial service for Boulder Police Officer Eric Talley on Tuesday, March 30, the noon COVID-19 campus webinar will be held on Wednesday, March 31. Provost Russell Moore, Chief Operating Officer Patrick O’Rourke and other CU officials will address plans for fall 2021 and ongoing support for students following the tragedy at King Soopers. The audience focus will be on students and families.