As classes begin this week, UBC has seen a slight uptick in COVID-19 cases.
Between August 31 and September 6, the UBC neighbourhood saw a daily case rate of seven per 100,000 residents, up four from last week. Testing positivity has remained low — reaching only one per cent of all tests conducted in this time period.
Vaccination coverage growth has stalled, but at a high percentage of the population. Eighty-nine per cent of those 18+ in the UBC neighbourhood have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 77 per cent of that group have received their second.
For the 18–49 age group, 91 per cent have received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 77 per cent have received their second.
While these numbers seem promising, note that this data does not include those who commute from outside of the UBC neighbourhood to campus — a population that will increase with the start of in-person classes today.
Additionally, the vaccination data may not be up to date, as many students have recently entered Canada from other places, and may not have registered their vaccinations received in another country. The province said outside-of-Canada vaccinations entered into its systems may take two to three weeks to process.
UBC has been in the news recently for concerns over large gatherings hosted by students. The university launched its vaccine disclosure program yesterday to allow students to register their vaccination status with the university. Those who are unvaccinated, partially vaccinated or don’t disclose their status will have to undergo regular rapid testing.