IC News

Vaccination is the best source of personal defense against infectious diseases like SARS-CoV2 and influenza. Vaccinations are designed to provide lifelong immunity and will decrease the likelihood of severe complications from infection. The vaccines have been shown to be effective against previous viral variants and will offer the best protection against future variants. However, a vaccine is not a forcefield to block the virus from entering your body, the virus can still infect you but will likely be controlled early in the infection if you have high levels of pre-existing immunity. That is where boosters come in!  Everyone is now eligible for SARS-CoV2 booster shots from their health providers. Before coming back to campus this spring, it is strongly encouraged we all get our vaccines boosted. The influenza virus is also circulating at higher levels this year. It is okay to get both SARS-CoV2 and influenza vaccines at the same time. This will help prevent a “twindemic” from hitting our community. 

Your immune system is a marvelous adaptable part of your body, and it can be trained over time. With each dose of the vaccine, you are increasing both the number of virus specific immune cells and their ability to bind/neutralize the pathogen. However, maintaining a “standing immune army” is energetically expensive, so your immunity, specifically circulating antibodies, will decrease as time passes since your last vaccination. Therefore, we need multiple doses and booster shots. During the peak of cold and flu season a boost will maximize the number of immune cells at the same time we are most likely to encounter the pathogen.  

If you are immunocompromised or have co-morbidities (overweight, diabetic, heart problems, etc.) you are more at risk for severe disease from COVID-19 and the booster is something you need to get for personal safety. Additionally, as new variants emerge the vaccines are still very effective, but it may take higher levels of immunity to prevent severe disease. If we all get boosted, this will ramp up our immunity, and will decrease disease burden in our local community and help control viral spread. 

If you are not feeling well, we need to first think of COVID. One way to enhance our safety is to increase the distance between each other. Keep in mind that the most likely place for the spread of disease will be at social gatherings outside of the classroom. If you are unmasked in your home or dorm room, make sure to add more distance. Additionally, if you have cold or flu-like symptoms, please stay home. Email your professors and let them know, but do not go to class, club or your sport. To aid with this we can use our IC badge system. Faculty and staff need to ask every time, to see a badge before we commence a classroom or social activity on campus. Students need to be honest about how they feel and follow the directions in the badge system if they are symptomatic. Ithaca College offers both PCR and rapid testing for SARS-CoV2 of symptomatic individuals, so it is best to know before you go to class, a club or a sport activity. Proper use of the badge system will enhance the distance of symptomatic people from other members of our community and keep our transmission rates low. 

Winter is coming and the common cold, influenza and SARS-CoV2 are on the rise. The behaviors we had in the warm days of summer and cool days of autumn will need to change. As the case numbers rise both nationally and locally, we need to think about how we can change our behaviors to decrease personal risk. Consider those places and locations that you go where you will be in large numbers of people. Consider going in off-peak hours. Plan those trips to the store so that you can most efficiently pick up what you need and then remove yourself from that space. Ask your friend, colleague or peer to please adjust their mask and remind them of the IC community agreement. If your repeated proactive attempts are not having an impact, remember that we have the IC community agreement reporting form.  We are all in this together, being more aware of enhanced risks during cold/flu season and modifying behaviors accordingly, will help decrease the duration of your exposure.