coronavirus; COVID-19; Editorial

In observance of Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s Executive Directive issued January 15 for managing responses to COVID-19, George Mason University will now strongly encourage employees to receive COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters, and to share their vaccination status with Mason.

Mason is committed to providing community members with mask options, and has ordered 180,000 N95 masks for the campus community, to be delivered in multiple shipments. The first batch of 35,000 is expected to arrive this week.

This spring we are guided by three goals for success: preserving health and safety, minimizing operational disruptions, and stopping the spread of the virus to hasten the end of the pandemic.  We urge administrative and academic units to review their contingency plans and update them as appropriate.

The Fast Grants program within the Mercatus Center will aid in the development of a potential pan-coronavirus vaccine.

Amira Roess, professor of global health and epidemiology at Mason’s College of Health and Human Services, and Angela Chezem, MD, medical director, COVID Surveillance Program (Safety, Emergency, and Enterprise Risk Management), offer advice to the Mason community on omicron variant safety over the winter holiday season.

The spike in Coronavirus cases could force hospitals into tough choices because of limited resources.

George Mason University officials are encouraging those who are eligible to go ahead and schedule their third COVID-19 vaccine doses or booster shots to best help keep the entire community safe.

With COVID-19 continuing to spread throughout the world, there is a demand for rapid, noninvasive diagnostics. George Mason University researchers Robin Couch and Allyson Dailey, members of the College of Science and the Institute of Biohealth Innovation, are working to answer that call with their research on volatile organic compounds (VOCs) for infectious disease detection.

Wearing masks is one way Mason fights the spread of COVID-19.

The fight to slow the spread of COVID-19 continues as George Mason prepares for the fall semester