As each person gets vaccinated against COVID-19, our community moves closer to herd immunity and the prospect of a return to normalcy feels within reach. Despite being on the right track, we need to remember that immunization does not mean eradication. The virus is still circulating.

In order to truly defeat the coronavirus, we need to keep tracking its movements. We need to continue COVID-19 testing. That means you need to keep getting tested.

If you are on campus regularly, then you need to get tested for COVID-19 on a weekly basis—regardless of your vaccination status, symptoms or lack thereof. If you aren’t on campus, then you are still eligible to be tested. Your participation in the screenings helps us track the virus and stop its spread.

As new variants of COVID-19 are found, stopping the spread of the virus has become more even more important. These variants could be more easily transmitted or could produce more severe symptoms in vaccinated and non-vaccinated patients alike. It is estimated that around 30% of all cases of COVID-19 in the U.S. right now are one of the new variants. Continual testing helps track and stop them.

In addition, asymptomatic testing might be the only way to discover who is carrying the virus as we move toward herd immunity. We all know the vaccines currently in use do not completely stop transmission of the virus but do generally prevent severe symptoms. Because the intensity of the symptoms is lessened, you might not know you have the virus unless you are tested.

The pandemic has worn everyone down, but now is not the time to let up on our efforts to end it. We have sacrificed too much to stop now. Testing, tracing and vaccination are three key elements to stopping COVID-19. We all need to do our part.

To schedule a COVID-19 test please click here.

Testing protects everyone. We are all in this together. We are all one U.