With COVID-19 vaccine, 'hope for the end of this pandemic is on the horizon'
The newly approved Pfizer/BioNTech vaccine arrived at Rochester this week and is starting to be administered to Medical Center health care workers. Above, nurse manager Laura Caruso gives patient transport worker Carlos Rosa the first dose of the vaccine. Rosa was the first person in Rochester to receive the vaccine outside of a clinical trial. Beginning today, the Medical Center will open a clinic that will vaccinate 200 employees every four hours. Michael Apostolakos, chief medical officer at the Medical Center, said additional shipments of the vaccine will be rolled out in phases, and his best guess is that the general public would be able to receive the vaccine between June and August of next year.
“We’ve had to share a fair amount of difficult news over the past 9–10 months, and I’m delighted to join with my colleagues to share this great news today,” said Apostolakos, in a press conference on Tuesday. “The Pfizer vaccine has proven safe and effective in rigorous scientific trials involving tens of thousands of persons. Hope for the end to this pandemic is on the horizon.”
Since Tuesday’s notice in @Rochester, there is one new case of COVID-19 to report: a Medical Campus student. Please note that the University’s COVID-19 Dashboard is updated daily and dashboard numbers may reflect additional cases confirmed later in the day. When a new case is known, the contact-tracing process begins immediately with the Monroe County Health Department, with confirmed exposures being contacted and required to quarantine. If you think you’re experiencing any COVID-19 symptoms, it’s best to report them through Dr. Chat Bot immediately.
Recent awards and honors
Here’s a roundup of some recent national awards and honors for members of the University community, who are being recognized for contributions to their respective fields:
Brianna Theobald, an assistant professor of history, has won the American Society for Ethnohistory’s Erminie Wheeler Voegelin Award for her book, Reproduction on the Reservation: Pregnancy, Childbrith, and Colonialism in the Long Twentieth Century. The award is given annually for the best book in the field of ethnohistory. This is Theobald’s third award for her book.
The T2K collaboration, which includes Steven Manly, a professor and chair of the Department of Physics and Astronomy, and Kevin McFarland, the Dr. Steven Chu Professor in Physics, and their discovery of the matter-antimatter symmetry violation was named one of Nature’s 10 remarkable discoveries from 2020.
University Health Service will continue to administer pre-departure tests to asymptomatic students who plan to depart for home in the coming weeks. This one-time pre-departure test is a requirement for all undergraduate on-campus students and is recommended for all others. Appointments are required.
Pre-travel testing: Students traveling to an international location should call UHS at (585) 275-2662 to discuss their travel testing requirements with a UHS nurse and to schedule an appointment. Students traveling domestically should schedule their appointment online using the instructions on the UHS website. Testing from December 21–30 will take place in the UHS Building.
Students staying on campus for Winter Stay: These students do not need to be tested; however, testing is available for free upon request, even when asymptomatic, one time during the break. Students who are staying for Winter Stay will be a part of UHS’s surveillance testing, which will continue through December 18.
Testing from December 21–30: Testing will be available at UHS for students with symptoms, for students who will be traveling, and for students who are returning to Rochester. During this time, students should call UHS at (585) 275-2662 to schedule an appointment.
Beginning January 4: UHS will be testing students who are returning to Rochester. Appointments are scheduled online using the instructions on the UHS website.
Students returning to campus for the spring semester: Information about testing and quarantine requirements will be posted in @Rochester and on the UHS website in early January.
UHS is closed on the weekends and will be closed December 24–27 and December 31–January 3. Whenever UHS is closed, a UHS physician is on-call and available by phone for urgent concerns that cannot wait until the office reopens.
Winter Break options with the Greene Center
The Greene Center for Career Education and Connections is there for students over Winter Break. If you are looking for something to do during this time, the center has some ideas for you to explore. If you’d like to talk through some of these options, brainstorm ideas, or discuss your interests, advisors are available for 1:1 appointments, Monday through Friday.
Innovation challenge on community health crises
The University announces the second iteration of the UR COVID-19 Challenge, UR Innovation Challenge: Community Health Crises. It will be held from January 11 to 22 and is open to all University undergraduate and graduate students. In the challenge, students will work in virtual teams to develop solutions for addressing various problems related to the health and community crises in the City of Rochester. At the end of the challenge, they will present their solution to their respective community partner and a panel of judges. Cash prizes will be awarded. Registration is open here.
Holiday Social funds support Staff Emergency Assistance Fund
Although the Office of Human Resources isn’t able to host the River Campus Holiday Social this year, the office has instead donated funds normally used to host the annual social gathering to the Staff Emergency Assistance Fund, which helps staff members who have experienced financial hardship this year during the COVID-19 pandemic. Learn more about the emergency fund and how you can donate.
University home ownership incentive program
To assist with the dream of homeownership, the University has teamed up with the City of Rochester and several banks and credit unions to offer regular full-time and part-time faculty and staff, residents, and fellows $9,000 toward the purchase of a primary residence. For more information, visit the Total Rewards website and explore qualifying neighborhoods.
Eastman Opera Theatre’s fall virtual performances of “Our Voices: Immersive Composer Collaborations” begin today, Wednesday, December 16, with six different performances happening across the next five days. The videos will be left up for on-demand viewing in addition to being shown “live”. Learn more about programming and find the videos here.
Giving opportunities before 2020 comes to a close
Many members of the University community have asked “How can I help the University?” Advancement is sharing details about 2020 giving with the University community this month. There are several University-based emergency funds accepting contributions right now. The Staff Emergency Assistance Fund, the Student Emergency Fund, the COVID-19 Support Fund, the campus Food Pantry, and the Emergency Financial Aid Fund were created to help students, Medical Center patients, and staff who are dealing with implications due to the pandemic. Gifts to these funds and many other priorities can be made through the #RochesterGives website or through payroll deduction.
Donations successfully postmarked or received online by midnight on December 31 may be deducted from your 2020 income taxes, per the CARES Act. Even if you take the standard deduction, you can still claim charitable contributions of up to $300. For those who itemize, deduction limits have been raised to 100 percent of gross income. Gifts will also count toward the Together for Rochester one-year campaign.
New paid dental assistant program
The Eastman Institute for Oral Health is launching the Dental Assistant Training Program, a new one-year training program, designed to provide employment and paid training opportunities while helping treat the area’s increased number of dental patients. Learn more and find application information here. The program begins on January 19.
Learn to meditate this holiday season
Take a much-needed break from the hustle and bustle of the holiday season with this four-week meditation class. Participants will learn two new meditation techniques each week, engage in a short daily practice, and bring more mindfulness and gratitude to their lives. This class is open to all students, faculty, and staff, and takes place on Mondays from 1 to 2:15 p.m. EST via Zoom starting on December 21. Registration is required. Brought to you by the Mindful University Project.
Purchase the 2021 pet therapy dog calendar
Give the gift of touchless cuddles with Friends of Strong Memorial Hospital’s 2021 wall calendar featuring 20 therapy dogs. The calendars are available for $9.99 plus tax at the Friends of Strong Gift Shop. All calendar proceeds benefit patient- and family-centered care at Strong. If you can’t make it to the gift shop, call (585) 275-2420 to order a copy and have it shipped to your home or office; a $4.99 shipping and handling fee applies. Orders within the University may be sent via interoffice mail at no charge.
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