The Librarians’ and Archivists’ Association of the University of Waterloo supports the statement put out by FAUW on March 21 calling for the University to keep vaccine and mask mandates for the Spring term.
We support continuing these measures for the same reasons FAUW listed, namely:
- The high incidence of COVID in our community’s wastewater, with the Record stating that “Wastewater monitoring is showing an ‘extremely’ worrying rise in the COVID-19 signal.”(Weidner, April 8, 2022).
- Protection for the vulnerable in our community
We would also like to highlight that in the time since FAUW’s statement, Brock University, Conestoga College, Laurier, and York University have indicated that they will be keeping their mask and/or vaccination policies for at least part of the Spring term.
Keeping these will make our workplace safer for the immunocompromised and those with family members who are unable to be vaccinated (such as children under 5). We encourage Waterloo to follow the science and to keep our community safe.