The Pandemic Response Team continues to meet on a regular basis to shape the way the College adapts to the ever-evolving COVID-19 landscape. As we begin a new year, the Team is ready to announce the following important policy changes. We invite you to review them carefully, and send any questions or concerns to us at pandemic-response-team@sjcme.edu.

Vaccines
SJC will be suspending our COVID-19 vaccine mandate as of February 1st, 2023 for all students, faculty, and staff. This decision was not made lightly, as we are firm believers in the science of public health and herd immunity.

When vaccines were first introduced, they were proven to lower the risk of serious illness, death, and contagion from the first variants of COVID. We are proud of our community for agreeing to build up our Community Immunity to protect the most vulnerable among us.

We are suspending the mandate now because the virus has rendered the original vaccine obsolete, and subsequent boosters have shown to have short-term effectiveness against a virus that changes quickly and often. Additionally, we have reached a point where many more of us have contracted the virus, so natural immunity is now a much bigger factor in our overall community immunity.

While we are removing the requirement, we continue to encourage everyone at the College to get boosters as they become available.

Positive Cases, Contact Tracing and Isolation
Our Health and Wellness Center staff will continue our contact tracing protocol for all cases of COVID on campus. However, we have recently modified our isolation and return to campus protocol as follows:

Going forward, you will need to isolate at home for 7 days from the date you test positive. You may return to campus on day 7 with the following options:

1) Take a test at home (send results to healthcenter@sjcme.edu) or at the Health Center, and if the test is positive, you must wear a mask on campus for 3 days.

2) Take a test at home (send results to healthcenter@sjcme.edu) or at the Health Center, and if the test is negative, you can go mask free on campus.

3) Don't take a test and wear a mask on campus for 3 days.

If you are identified through contact tracing as a close contact, you will be informed by the Health and Wellness Center. You may remain on campus, and you will be encouraged to mask, test, and monitor your symptoms.

Overnight Guests
We will no longer require overnight guests to be vaccinated against COVID-19. Hosts must continue to register all guests with Campus Life, and should inquire about their guests’ health status before inviting them to campus.

We’d like to extend our thanks as we head into this new year and new semester. This community has stepped up and sacrificed in many ways, large and small, to help Saint Joe’s weather these long pandemic years. While more challenges may arise, we are happy to be in a position to continue our return to a new normal.

Thank you,
The SJC Pandemic Response Team