May 25 2:30 p.m. Update: This article has been updated to reflect the latest COVID-19 positive tests for UAB. The previous version used data from the UA System dashboard for April 23 through April 29.
As of May 24, masks will no longer be required on campus for fully vaccinated students, staff and faculty with only a few exceptions. The Birmingham city mask mandate expired on the same day.
Those exceptions include while riding the Blazer Express, those involved in UAB youth programs and those working in a health care environment.
In an interview with WVTM, Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, director of UAB’s Division of Infectious Diseases, said the data shows that vaccinated people have a low chance of getting COVID, and when they do, it is likely to be a much milder case. She said there is also an increasing amount of data showing that vaccinated people are less likely to transmit the virus.
Marrazzo also said the new requirements do rely on trust.
“This necessarily involves trusting people to comply. If they’re not vaccinated, ideally, they should wear a mask, especially in indoor settings and certainly in any close quarters,” Marrazzo said.
Pam Benoit, Ph.D., vice president for Academic Affairs and provost, said students will not be required to show vaccination cards to prove their vaccination status and she says the university does not expect compliance to be an issue.
“[Students] have done a really good job complying with the safety requirements we rolled out throughout the pandemic even as they were changing, so we will be expecting students to comply,” Benoit said.
Any compliance issues that do arise will be handled through student conduct or other appropriate channels.
The social distancing requirements were changed to three feet beginning May 10. Benoit said the six feet guidance markers have been removed and there are still decisions being made on whether or not to put new signage up to reflect the shorter distance.
Benoit said other things still up for discussion include event guidelines, such as whether off-campus events will be allowed in the fall.
Current UA System guidance [link]limits attendance to the number of people that can be accommodated based on the size of the event space and caps indoor events to 50 people and outdoor events to 100.
As for when is the best time to bring students back at 100% capacity, Marrazzo said she didn’t know exactly, but hospitalizations and deaths have decreased, and the decisions must be made by monitoring the data weekly.
“I think it is cautiously correct to have students come back, to emphasize that ‘if you’re fully vaccinated, you don’t need to wear a mask,’ and you can feel protected,” Marrazzo said.
The email said cases of COVID-19 at UAB have remained “very low for several weeks” as more members of the community receive the vaccine.
For the week of May 14 through May 20, seven UAB Clinical Enterprise employees, one student and zero non clinical faculty and staff tested positive for COVID-19 according to UAB Reporter.
Benoit said more than 6,000 students have been vaccinated, but this number may be higher.
“We’re confident that many more of those have been vaccinated but haven’t yet uploaded their data,” Benoit said.
To upload their vaccination data, students can take a picture of their vaccine card and upload it to the Patient Portal in BlazerNET the same way they would with their other vaccination records, and employees can submit proof of vaccination to employeehealth@uabmc.edu. Read the UA System guidance here and UAB specific guidance here.
Benoit said she advises students to upload their vaccination records even if they got vaccinated at a UAB site but did not identify themselves as students at the university or are unsure if they did.
Students can get one dose of the vaccine at the next clinic at Bartow Arena on June 18 and, if needed, schedule the second dose with Student Health Services. Anyone can go to www.uabmedicinevaccine.org or find a vaccine site near them with www.vaccinefinder.org.
After you’re vaccinated you can see how to protect your vaccine card here.
