Update to Campus Health and Safety Guidelines

Update to Campus Health and Safety Guidelines

• October 29th, 2021
• in Faculty Staff Messages General Messages Student Messages

Consistent with Executive Order 14042 and accompanying guidance from the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force, effective Nov. 5, 2021, face coverings will no longer be required for fully vaccinated individuals in most University of Alabama facilities. Current rules remain in effect until then.

After Nov. 4, masks will only be required:

1. For unvaccinated individuals indoors, and in crowded outdoor settings or during outdoor activities that involve sustained close contact with others who are unvaccinated;
2. For all individuals in patient clinical-care settings, including the University Medical Center, the Student Health Center, the Capstone Village assisted living and specialty care units, Brewer-Porch Children’s Center, and the Working on Womanhood program; and
3. For all individuals on Crimson Ride buses.

Unvaccinated individuals will not be required to wear masks when eating or drinking while maintaining appropriate distancing, when alone in an office with floor-to-ceiling walls and a closed door, while actively exercising, or in residence hall rooms.

To the extent practicable, individuals who are not fully vaccinated should maintain social distancing.

Anyone, including those who are fully vaccinated, should feel comfortable choosing to wear a mask, even when not required.

These face covering requirements may be updated as necessary to comply with changes to federal guidance or as needed to respond to a substantial rise in community transmission.

As additional background, on Oct. 22, 2021, UA announced that Executive Order 14042 and guidance from the Safer Federal Workforce Task Force require UA to ensure all employees, including student employees, are fully vaccinated by Dec. 8, 2021, unless granted an approved medical, disability, or religious exemption. The same federal guidance states: “In areas of low or moderate community transmission, fully vaccinated people do not need to wear a mask. Fully vaccinated individuals do not need to physically distance regardless of the level of transmission in the area. Individuals who are not fully vaccinated must wear a mask indoors and in certain outdoor settings…” Tuscaloosa County is currently an area of moderate community transmission and numbers are trending downward.

Visit healthinfo.ua.edu for additional information on masking and distancing or the vaccine requirement for UA employees.