Staff Writer Manny Rea is a journalism sophomore and the current health reporter for The Alligator. He worked as a copy editor in his freshman year before moving over to the Avenue in summer 2020. He likes to listen to dollar-bin records and read comics, and he is patiently waiting to go back to movies and concerts.
A week after UF began vaccinating students, faculty and staff ages 16 and older, the university’s COVID-19 isolation numbers steadily decreased. Daily COVID-19 tests have also remained at a seven-day average positivity rate of 1% since March 12.
The same day Florida opened vaccine eligibility to people ages 16 and up, UF opened its landmark stadium to students, staff and faculty to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.
Since March 29, 15 UF employees and 126 students have tested positive for the virus at on-campus locations. In the seven days before that, 12 employees and 176 students tested positive.
On Monday, about 5,000 vaccines will be distributed at the Champions Club section in Ben Hill Griffin Stadium. UF does not plan to mandate the vaccine for future semesters.
As more students moved onto campus and registered for face-to-face classes, the university moved all of East Hall's residents out during the Fall to create an additional quarantine facility. However, the dorms have been used sparsely since January — East Hall hasn’t housed a single student this semester.
The PreventCOVIDU study is a Moderna-funded project by the COVID-19 Prevention Network to evaluate the vaccine’s effectiveness at 22 U.S. universities, including UF.
Since March 22, 12 UF employees and 176 students have tested positive for the virus at on-campus locations. The week before, nine employees and 109 students tested positive.
Vaccine recipients will be able to opt out of the biweekly on-campus testing two weeks after receiving their final doses, said Dr. Michael Lauzardo, the director of UF Health’s Screen, Test and Protect program.
Accent Speakers Bureau, a UF Student Government agency, hosted Haddish and Brown on Wednesday in two free events for UF students and faculty over Zoom. During the shows, the women discussed topics ranging from their careers in media to the importance of self-care.
Since March 15, nine UF employees and 109 students have tested positive for the virus at on-campus locations. Total positive tests amount to 9,270 since March 18, 2020 as of Monday.
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