University Of Alaska Anchorage: UA Masking Policy Update — COVID-19 Update From Pat Pitney

Press release from the University of Alaska Anchorage:

May 21, 2021

Dear UA community: 

Consistent with CDC guidelines, fully vaccinated University of Alaska employees, contractors, students and visitors
will no longer be required to wear masks. This change is effective Monday, May 24. 

People who are not fully vaccinated must continue to wear a mask while on university
property, at university field sites, and in university vehicles. Unvaccinated individuals
do not need to be masked when they are inside a private on-campus residential unit
or as allowed by campus-specific exemptions. 

Masks are still required for all campus public transportation users, both vaccinated
and unvaccinated. Local university face-covering policies will be updated accordingly.
The universities may implement additional restrictions based on local conditions.

I encourage individuals who want or need to wear a face mask in group settings such
as offices, classrooms or residence halls to do so. 

With this mask policy update and with more people returning to on-site work at our
campuses over the summer, it’s more important than ever to stay home if you are not
feeling well and to get tested if you have COVID-19 symptoms. In addition, all on-campus employees, contractors, and students must notify their university if they have COVID-19 symptoms, test positive for the disease, or are identified
as a person under investigation for COVID-19 exposure. 

I encourage all university affiliates to get their COVID-19 vaccines. Doing so will allow you to relax your own mask usage, and will help hasten the end
of the pandemic and allow our campuses and communities to return to normal.  

For additional information about COVID-19 protocols throughout the University of Alaska,
visit the UA COVID-19 website.

Pat Pitney, Interim UA President

This press release was produced by the University of Alaska Anchorage. The views expressed here are the author’s own.