Smartphone apps for certifying they are symptom-free and masks for most students will be the norm at south and southwest suburban institutions of higher education as the fall semester approaches.
As masking continues to be a hot-button issue at the elementary, middle and high school levels throughout the Southland, community colleges including South Suburban in South Holland and Moraine Valley in Palos Hills said that masks will be required regardless of vaccination status.
While some major universities and employers, particularly hospitals, are mandating vaccinations, area colleges are encouraging but not requiring students be vaccinated for COVID-19.
A spokesman for South Suburban College said it will require masks for all employees and students although college officials “are confident that a significant number of employees and students were vaccinated” while the Cook County Department of Public Health operated a mass vaccination site at the school.
The site operated from early February until late May, and administered more than 71,000 vaccine doses, according to the county.
Moraine Valley also hosted county health department vaccination clinics in an effort to boost immunization levels, and has vaccination dates scheduled for Aug. 3, 24 and 25. The clinics are offering the two-dose Pfizer vaccine as well as the single dose Johnson & Johnson shot.
Cook County has closed mass vaccination sites including at South Suburban College location and Tinley Park and is closing one in Matteson, with a focus on hyperlocal sites intended to reach those communities where vaccination rates are lagging.
In suburban Cook County, 59% of residents have received one dose of the vaccine, while 48.3% are fully vaccinated, according to the health department.
In the north suburbs, 56.4% of residents are fully vaccinated, compared with 44.3% in the southwest suburbs and a bit more than 37% in the south suburbs, according to county data.
Moraine Valley, Governors State University and Prairie State College in Chicago Heights are, for now, also requiring masks, regardless of a person’s vaccination status.
GSU, in University Park, says that fully vaccinated staff and students can ditch the mask when outside, and those who aren’t vaccinated can be maskless outside if they are alone or at least 6 feet apart from others.
Taking masks off while indoors will be allowed if the person is alone in a private office or residence hall room.
The university said that its Prairie Place residence hall is open, and Trinity Christian College in Palos Heights said that its four residence halls will operate at full capacity for the fall semester.
At Trinity, those who have been vaccinated do not have to wear masks although those unvaccinated do, and the school is requiring vaccinated and nonvaccinated students to complete online forms. The information will be kept confidential with restricted access to records, according to a spokeswoman.
Unvaccinated traditional undergrad students will be required to be regularly tested, at no cost, according to the school.
Graduate and adult undergraduates who are not vaccinated will not be required to get tested due to their limited time spent on campus, according to Trinity.
The widely used CampusClear smartphone app for self-screening for COVID-19 symptoms is being used at Moraine for the summer session and will be employed for the fall, according to the school.
Students and staff, regardless of vaccination status, will need to certify they’re symptom-free and get clearance through the app to come onto campus.
Trinity Christian deployed a self-screening smartphone app was used for the last school year and is evaluating using it for the upcoming semester, according to a spokeswoman.
While Trinity does not plan to offer remote learning as an option, other schools, including Moraine, Prairie State and South Suburban, said they will offer a variety of learning modes including in-person and virtual classes.
South Suburban is asking that 3 feet of social distancing be maintained, and fall classes “were planned at a maximum of 50% classroom capacity to protect our community and ensure all students feel safe returning to campus,” according to Patrick Rush, a school spokesman.
South Suburban said that, since March 19 of last year, it has recorded 19 positive COVID-19 cases among students and 37 among employees.
Prairie State College notes that, since Nov. 1 it has recorded 21 positive COVID-19 cases, all of which were among employees and none among students.
Moraine Valley reported that since the end of June 2020, it has had 81 positive COVID-19 cases among students and 36 among employees.
Governors State said that, cumulative since the end of last August, it recorded 57 cases among students and 28 among employees. Since the end of April of this year, the school has recorded just three cases total.
mnolan@tribpub.com
