COVID-19 Updates and Reminders
Dear Middlebury Community,
We are writing with some updates and reminders about COVID-19 resources, including a vaccine and booster clinic on campus on Tuesday, April 19. In this email, we’ll address the following:
- Vaccine and Booster Clinic on Campus
- Faculty and Staff Permitted at Dining Halls
- Museum Open to the Public
- New Testing Location on Campus
- State of the State
Vaccine and Booster Clinic on Campus
The College, in partnership with Addison County Home Health, will hold a COVID-19 vaccine clinic on Tuesday, April 19, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in Wilson Hall in McCullough Student Center. The clinic is open only to Middlebury students, faculty, and staff. It will offer Pfizer and Moderna vaccines that can serve as a first or second vaccination, booster, or second booster. Students and employees must make an appointment and indicate their vaccine preference. They must also bring their vaccine card to the clinic.
After students receive their booster, it is essential that they upload documentation of this to their student health portal immediately.
The Vermont Department of Health now recommends a second booster of the Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines for certain immunocompromised individuals and those 50 and older who are at least four months out from their first booster.
Faculty and Staff Permitted at Dining Halls
Starting Monday, April 18, faculty and staff are permitted to dine with students in the dining halls. Employees are required to pay for their meals. Meal prices for employees are as follows: breakfast $8, lunch $10, and dinner $12. The hours of operation are available on the website.
Museum Open to the Public
On Friday, April 15, the Museum of Art will reopen to the public.
New Testing Location on Campus
As of April 11, PCR testing for COVID-19 is now conducted at the testing window at Centeno House, 136 South Main Street, accessible via the patio facing the Service Building. PCR testing is available for students and employees on campus Mondays and Wednesdays, 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Thursdays, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. No appointment is needed. More information is available on the COVID-19 Testing page. Note that employees who are symptomatic may use a home antigen test kit and/or arrange testing through their healthcare provider, the Vermont Department of Health, or a local pharmacy. See also COVID-19 Testing and Reporting Instructions.
State of the State
With the state experiencing a continued increase in COVID-19 cases this week, the Vermont Department of Health remains focused on hospitalizations, which have also increased but remain far lower than they were in January. At the state’s weekly press briefing on Tuesday, Vermont Health Commissioner Dr. Mark Levine said the conditions in the state have not changed enough to warrant any new COVID-19 protocols. He reiterated that the highly contagious but less severe BA.2 subvariant remains the likely cause for the upticks.
Dr. Levine emphasized the importance of getting tested when symptoms appear. Information about how to make an appointment for a test and when to take the various types of tests is available on the state’s COVID-19 testing website and Middlebury’s COVID-19 Testing and Reporting Instructions.
Thank you for following these updates. Should you have questions, please write to COVIDInfo@middlebury.edu.
Sincerely,
Mark Peluso
Chief Health Officer and College Physician
Derek Doucet
Dean of Students