To the University community:

The City of Philadelphia continues to experience increases in COVID-19 cases and is taking action immediately to halt the rising case count and prevent further spread of the virus.

Today, the Philadelphia Department of Public Health announced a new regulation, one voted on and approved by the Philadelphia Board of Health. This new regulation has very specific requirements for staff, students, and faculty at colleges and universities in the city.

Our University’s Incident Command Advisory (ICA) team, which has guided our response to the pandemic, is working to better understand how our current requirements are impacted by the city’s new regulation. We will communicate more details next week once the ICA team has completed this work.

In the meantime, please note:

• La Salle’s due date to submit your vaccination status was Friday, Aug. 6. Please complete this form today if you are in the group that has not yet complied (whether students or employees).
• #VaxUpLaSalle. The COVID-19 vaccine is a safe and effective measure to protect against serious illness, even if you contract the virus. I implore you to receive the COVID-19 vaccine right away, if you have not already done so.

I echo and amplify comments made earlier today by Philadelphia’s acting health commissioner Cheryl Bettigole. She pointed out that the lowest vaccination rates are among our city’s college-age population. As for this new regulation, Bettigole said, “At a certain point, with cases soaring and hospitalizations on the rise, we have to act.” We have a shared responsibility to #VaxUpLaSalle. Let’s come together as a united community to protect one another and those around us.

Sincerely,

Tim O’Shaughnessy, ’85
Interim President