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Rutgers University is 'on fairly solid ground ' to require students to be vaccinated against COVID-19

Rutgers University is 'on fairly solid ground ' to require students to be vaccinated against COVID-19

Eric Feldman of the Law School spoke about Rutgers University’s requirement that all students be vaccinated for COVID-19 before returning to campus. “Rutgers is on fairly solid ground, and we’re likely to see a good number of universities, both public and private, start to mandate the vaccine,” he said.

The pandemic dramatically reduced flu cases. That could backfire

The pandemic dramatically reduced flu cases. That could backfire

Paul Offit of the Perelman School of Medicine said the next annual flu outbreak could, but likely won’t, be tempered with lessons learned from the COVID-19 pandemic. “Could we reasonably in a winter month wear masks just at least when we’re outside in large crowds? Did we learn that or are we comfortable having hundreds of 1000s of cases of hospitalizations for flu and 10s of 1000s deaths?” he asked. “I suspect the answer is B.”

Reflecting on a year shaped by COVID-19
Overhead view of a medical worker in full PPE discussing a COVID spit test with a student on campus.

Reflecting on a year shaped by COVID-19

Penn Today brings together noteworthy stories and images from the past year and highlights ways for individual members of the Penn community to share their personal experiences.

Erica K. Brockmeier, Katherine Unger Baillie

No, vaccine seekers, your condo is not a congregate living facility

No, vaccine seekers, your condo is not a congregate living facility

Emily Largent of the Perelman School of Medicine explained why apartment buildings and condo associations shouldn’t encourage their residents to cut the COVID-19 vaccine line by claiming to live in “congregate settings.” “I would also like to be vaccinated,” she wrote. “But each of us has an ethical obligation to wait our turn.”

The monumental effort to scale up campus COVID-19 testing
Penn students in a large outdoor tent that is a COVID-testing site.

As of mid-March, more than 140,000 saliva-based tests for COVID-19 have been conducted since the start of the spring semester Penn Cares testing program. 

  • By the Numbers

    • The monumental effort to scale up campus COVID-19 testing

    Key facts and figures point to the scale of the Penn Cares testing program and how Project Quaker helped bring students back to campus this spring.

    Erica K. Brockmeier

    Vaccine acceptance expert weighs in on AstraZeneca saga

    Vaccine acceptance expert weighs in on AstraZeneca saga

    Alison Buttenheim of the School of Nursing weighed in on the stop-and-start rollout of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, as well as how to communicate risk without unnecessarily sowing fear. “The stories, the anecdotes, are always going to be more memorable for people,” she said. “We have a harder story to tell about numbers and ratios and protocols and biological plausibility. So we have to get it right and prepare people.”

    Europe’s ultra-cautious vaccine strategy is itself a risky bet

    Europe’s ultra-cautious vaccine strategy is itself a risky bet

    Susan Ellenberg of the Perelman School of Medicine said some reports of post-vaccination symptoms may actually be unrelated to the COVID-19 vaccine. “Vaccines protect against one thing: the infection or the infection plus disease,” she said. “They don’t protect you against everything else that might possibly happen to you.”