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COVID-19 Update: Vaccinated People Can Take Their Masks Off Starting May 19

May 19, 2021

Dear members of our on-campus community, 

As President Pestello announced on Friday, life is finally returning to more normalcy on our St. Louis campuses. 

Beginning today, fully vaccinated students, staff and faculty members are free to not wear their face masks, and to not be socially distant indoors and out on our campuses — in most situations. 

However, per the most recent CDC guidance, fully vaccinated students, staff and faculty are required to wear their face masks and remain 6 feet apart in health care settings, such as the Student Health Center, Employee Health and in clinical facilities operated by SLUCare. Of course, there are clinical evaluations and other circumstances where the social distancing rule must be broken. 

Our public health guidance for summer courses, labs, training and camps is still being refined. It is likely to include additional factors that maintain public health safeguards for vaccinated and unvaccinated persons. We hope to have the guidance for summer programs finalized shortly. 

We appreciate your patience as we continue to assess how the most recent CDC and City guidance affects those parts of our campuses that remain open as the semester ends and the summer session begins. 

While we certainly have a lot of work ahead to plan for the fall term, here are some key points to note for the summer at SLU:

We are all eager for this return to normalcy. Seeing smiles on West Pine and enjoying the company of friends without fear or guilt. It’s here –– finally.

I look forward to seeing you this summer and fall.

Stay safe and be well,

Terri Rebmann, Ph.D., RN, CIC, FAPIC
Special Assistant to the President
Director, Institute for Biosecurity
Professor, Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics
College for Public Health and Social Justice