On April 28, the co-directors of the UMass Amherst Public Health Promotion Center (PHPC) sent the following email to the campus community updating the university’s COVID-19 policies.

Dear UMass Amherst Community,

With Massachusetts Governor Maura Healey’s announcement that the state’s COVID-19 public health emergency will end on May 11, 2023, the same date that the federal public health emergency ends, UMass Amherst is updating its COVID-19 pandemic policies to align with state and federal practices.

Effective July 1, 2023, the university will no longer require faculty, staff and students to receive a COVID-19 vaccination. The Public Health Promotion Center strongly recommends that members of the campus community get vaccinated with the COVID-19 booster when they are eligible. The campus will continue to host COVID-19 vaccine clinics throughout the year. Faculty and students who participate in clinical settings where the vaccine is required will need to follow their agency’s vaccine requirements. The university’s Interim Pandemic Policy will also end on July 1.

The campus continues to have a process for requests for COVID-19-related medical accommodations that are considered on a case-by-case basis pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act.  Faculty and staff seeking medical accommodations should email accessibleworkplace@umass.edu. Students seeking accommodations (including students with on-campus employment such as a graduate assistantship) should visit the Disability Services website for more information.

This public health update reflects the approach we have taken throughout the pandemic, with university policies and protocols being based on federal CDC and Massachusetts Department of Public Health guidance.

We thank everyone for pulling together and supporting health, safety and wellbeing across our university community.

Sincerely,

Co-Directors of the Public Health Promotion Center (PHPC)

Ann Becker, Public Health Director

Jeffrey Hescock, Executive Director of Environmental Health and Safety