COVID-19 Information

From Chief of Staff Adelia Thompson emailed to faculty and staff.

Dear Colleagues:

I hoped to have already sent my last COVID update email for this semester, but I fear that cannot be the case. I ask you to please read this message in its entirety as there are some very important changes we must share.

Vaccination requirements imposed by the federal government have been much in the news of late. The new regulations for all employers of more than 100 people have been suspended by a federal court, pending further litigation.

However, the President’s Executive Order requiring entities that have contracts with federal agencies to require their employees to be vaccinated remains in place.

The University has contracts with federal agencies that subject us to this requirement.

Although the deadline for compliance with this federal mandate has been postponed already, and therefore remains uncertain, we must notify you that at this time, all faculty and staff at Christopher Newport will be required to provide proof of vaccination, or document a medical or religious exemption. The deadline, currently, for providing that proof or exemption documentation is January 18, 2022. Please note: It is federal law that now requires that employees who do not provide proof of vaccine or documentation of medical or religious exemption by the deadline be dismissed.

While some vaccines may be a little bit faster, this timeframe means you should get your first vaccine shot no later than December 6 in order to meet the fully vaccinated reporting requirement. While your documentation can be submitted through the faculty/employee COVID–19 vaccination portal located on the MyCNU page any time after your last shot, the deadline for submitting your verification is January 18, 2022. And remember - vaccines are readily available at many locations throughout the Peninsula and Hampton Roads. Booster shots are not a factor in this process - you are considered fully vaccinated if you received the first Johnson & Johnson shot or the first two Moderna and Pfizer shots.

Other important COVID updates:

1. We will not be testing faculty, staff or students next week. We will resume testing for all three groups, on the usual schedule, beginning Monday, November 28.
2. We will continue to require masks indoors through the end of the semester; we will assess circumstances in the New Year, but as we have from the beginning of COVID, we will continue to use the CDC/VDH guidance to inform our decisions. Unfortunately, the new case numbers in Newport News climbed quickly over the last two days, so there is some concern about another wave as the weather gets colder.
3. Boosters - we are not currently collecting information on booster status, but we encourage everyone to get a booster shot! You can receive a booster at any of the locations offering vaccines.
4. We encourage you to get a flu shot too. Many of us received a flu shot at the campus clinic this fall but if you did not, you can get that shot at most of the locations where the COVID–19 vaccine is being administered.
5. Our COVID Dashboard will continue to be updated daily through the end of classes; it will then be on “pause” until the start of the spring semester.
6. We have had more questions about what to do if you have a “close contact” with someone with COVID–19. We continue to follow the CDC guidance for our campus community, but that guidance has been updated. Click here for the latest.

And - with Thanksgiving just one week away, a reminder: If you are traveling over the holiday or welcoming guests, please be careful in every respect. COVID is still present, and we want you to be as healthy as possible when we return to campus for the final push to the end of the semester.

I will send another message with non-COVID information as we head into the Thanksgiving holidays! So stay tuned.

Thank you for your patience with the ever-changing COVID world we live in and with the ever-changing information we have to share so that we may care for the Christopher Newport community we treasure.