This week, FAU announced that masks and social distancing would not be required on campus, the CDC stated that fully vaccinated people no longer need to wear a mask, and Palm Beach County revealed a new mobile COVID vaccine clinic.

FAU

University staff sent an email to students, faculty, and staff earlier this week announcing an update on FAU’s face covering policy. As of May 10, face coverings are no longer required while indoors on campus. The email cited the State University System’s (SUS) new guidelines as the reason for the policy change. 

“The SUS also announced last week that all universities will return to pre-COVID-19 operations by the 2021-22 academic year. A return to full in-person participation in athletic and social activities on all campuses, including fan participation in stadiums and arenas, is anticipated,” according to the email.

Physical distancing is no longer being enforced but is recommended to the FAU community according to the updated FAU COVID-19 Health and Safety Plan.

On Wednesday, university staff sent an email to the FAU community announcing a temporary vaccination site on the Boca Raton campus. 

Baptist Health hosted the vaccination site and offered Pfizer and Moderna vaccines to those who were 16 years of age or older on May 13. The site will be open again on May 20. 

Currently, there is one active COVID-19 case at FAU on the Boca Raton campus.

PALM BEACH COUNTY

The county introduced a new vaccination strategy on Thursday: a mobile clinic.

“The Health Care District teamed up with the City of West Palm Beach and Palm Beach County to offer free, walk-up COVID-19 vaccines,” according to the official Palm Beach County website.

The mobile clinic is located on Datura Street, east of South Narcissus Avenue until May 16 at 7 p.m. 

To read more about the mobile clinic and see where it will be next, click here.

Lantana Clinic is offering walk-up Pfizer vaccinations from May 17 to May 21 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. According to the county website, a parent or guardian must be present with recipients 17 years old and younger.

More than 16,500 more people were vaccinated this week in Palm Beach County, bringing the total number of vaccinated people in the county to 684,631 as of May 11. 

As the county vaccination rate goes up, the weekly average number of COVID-19 cases goes down.

As of May 13, the weekly average of new cases in the county is 219, which is lower than last week’s average of 252 cases. 

STATE-WIDE

COVID-19 cases are decreasing in Florida with the weekly average of new cases down to 3,454 compared to 4,317 cases last week.

Florida’s vaccination rate is increasing steadily with 34.6% of the population being fully vaccinated as of May 14. A total of 9,436,587 Floridians are vaccinated according to the official Florida COVID-19 Vaccination Summary.

COUNTRY-WIDE

According to CNBC News, the FDA approved the Pfizer vaccine for recipients ages 12 to 15 on Wednesday, a necessary step towards ending the pandemic. 

On Thursday, the CDC announced that fully vaccinated people can go most places without a mask.

“The science is clear: If you are fully vaccinated, you are protected, and you can start doing the things that you stopped doing because of the pandemic,” Dr. Rochelle P. Walensky, the CDC director, said at a White House news conference.

According to the New York Times, masks must still be worn while utilizing public transportation or visiting hospitals, doctors, and long-term care facilities like nursing homes.

Kendall Little is the Managing Editor for the University Press. For more information regarding this or other stories, email [email protected] or tweet her @klittlewrites.