For the first time in the past few years, the University of Idaho is having a “post-covid” semester. This year there are little to no restrictions and it finally feels like we have moved past the pandemic. However COVID-19 rates are still continuing strong and consistent.
According to the state’s COVID-19 page, Idaho has already seen 721 new cases since Oct. 7.
In contrast, Idaho’s vaccination rate remains low at 52.5% according to the same page. This leaves Idaho ranked as the sixth lowest in the nation, with Palau, Micronesia and the Marshall Islands also considered.
These numbers speak to the fact that COVID-19 is continuing to spread due to people’s lack of regard for safety. Already, employees are being pushed to work through their illnesses, and sniffles are brushed off as allergies. In the time it takes to remember that COVID-19 still exists, students are already attending events with scratchy throats.
Despite the unknowns of the pandemic, the university didn’t do a bad job of handling it by the end. Though, it can’t be denied that the university removed its mask mandate last March far too abruptly and too soon.
UI’s on-campus testing and vaccine clinics gave students easy access to stay safe. Masks provided at info desks and rapid tests at the SRC have given students the option to protect themselves.
Still, the university and the rest of the community no longer promote taking care when it comes to sickness. UI still provides masks and rapid tests on campus, but a lack of continued promotion leaves students unaware.
Just across the border is Washington State University, a UI partner that is continuing in a similar way. They’re back to their busy home games and crowded classrooms. The difference is— students there were required to get fully vaccinated. Here, it’s possible only about half of the student population is.
UI did promote getting vaccinated, and previously provided incentives, but could not require vaccines due to state law.
It can be easy to brush off disease as a healthy young adult, but vulnerable members of the community don’t have that privilege. According to the American Medical Association, 2.7% of American adults are immunocompromised.
There are other factors that can place individuals as being high risk, meaning there is a part of our community that still lives in the shadow of COVID-19, while the rest of us forget.
So please, if you’re feeling off one day and want to attribute it to the seasonal flu, take a moment to consider a more serious possibility. Get an at-home rapid test, wear a mask and ride out the storm of your sickness or allergy responsibly. Don’t put other people at risk.
If you haven’t already, get up to date with your booster shots. Immunity from COVID-19 vaccines begins to wane four months after according to University of Utah Health.
Between Moscow and Pullman, there are currently eight locations offering first-time vaccines and boosters, including Rite Aid, Walmart, Safeway, Walgreens and Pullman Regional Hospital.
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