Vaccination Clinics Continue as Regular Asymptomatic Testing Pauses
On April 1, Terri Rebmann, Ph.D., special assistant to the president at Saint Louis University, shared updates on vaccinations and asymptomatic testing of residential students.
In a message to the SLU community, Rebmann said that the University had received 1,300 additional doses of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. Individuals eligible for vaccination under the State of Missouri’s priority guidelines were contacted and invited to vaccination clinics that were held on campus last week.
Rebmann said that SLU remains hopeful that the supply of vaccine to the University will continue. She encouraged all full- and part-time faculty, staff and students to respond to the COVID-19 Vaccine Survey released last month.
Once things slow down with eligible members of the SLU community, Rebmann said the University will start to invite eligible household members to future vaccination clinics based on data provided through a separate household member survey.
Asymptomatic COVID-19 Testing
In related news, Rebmann shared that SLU is pausing weekly asymptomatic testing of on-campus students. The decision was made based on campus infection rates, which are extremely low, as well as a desire to redirect limited staff capacity towards vaccination efforts.
During the past four weeks, about 2,200 asymptomatic tests have been conducted and only 1 has been positive, SLU’s overall positivity rate has been less than 2 percent since February.
“Conducting this number of asymptomatic tests regularly requires a team of individuals dedicated to such testing,” Rebmann wrote. “Given that our employees are now eligible for vaccination, and all of our students will be eligible starting on April 9, it seems prudent to direct our limited staff towards vaccination.”
Rebmann said SLU will continue to closely monitor infection data on campus and will continue to conduct tests of those with COVID-19 symptoms or who have been exposed to someone who has tested positive. This could include cluster testing as directed by SLU’s contact tracing team. Asymptomatic testing of student-athletes will also continue per NCAA guidelines.
“If infection data becomes a concern, we will resume asymptomatic testing,” Rebmann said. “We can pivot in as little as a few days if needed. Any decision to resume asymptomatic surveillance testing will be based upon both campus infection data and community infection data available from the St Louis City Health Department.”
Because there will be fewer asymptomatic negative tests, Rebmann anticipates SLU’s positivity rate will go up and this change will have an impact on the data reported on SLU’s COVID-19 dashboard.
In addition to serving as a special assistant to the president, Rebmann is the director of SLU’s Institute for Biosecurity. She’s also a professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics in the College for Public Health and Social Justice.