#COVID19vaccine

Mar 11
3 min

Two years ago, the world shut down. Here’s where we are today.

Keys, wallet, phone, mask — for over a year those were the words people muttered quietly to themselves before leaving the house. Now, they discover masks crumpled up and forgotten in every corner of the house, serving as not-so-distant memories of a monstrous and monotonous pandemic. But after two years and millions of vaccinations later, after months of masking, distancing and waiting for a light to appear at the end of the tunnel, the world is returning to some semblance of

Belmont’s COVID-19 numbers rise again as Nashville’s plateau

Sarah Maninger

Jan 31
2 min

Belmont’s COVID-19 numbers rise again as Nashville’s plateau

Belmont set another record this week, but not one it should be proud of. For the second Monday in a row, the university surpassed its growing total of positive COVID-19 cases, tallying 121 new cases among students, faculty and staff between Jan. 24 and Jan. 30. This is the new all-time high after last week’s 107 cases. Belmont Health Services was not available for comment prior to publication. Data shows that omicron has peaked in Nashville and neighboring counties, but the f

Belmont tallies record-high COVID-19 case numbers

Sarah Maninger

Jan 24
2 min

Belmont tallies record-high COVID-19 case numbers

Omicron arrived at Belmont in full force this week bringing at least 107 positive COVID-19 cases, an all-time high for the pandemic. The university reported 40 residential cases, 52 non-residential cases and 15 faculty cases, according to data released Monday. This surge eclipses the previous case record on campus — 82 reported the first week of March 2021. “This number is not surprising given the recent surge in case counts nationwide and the high transmissibility rate of th

Where to find COVID-19 tests on and off campus as omicron surges

Sarah Maninger

Jan 16
2 min

Where to find COVID-19 tests on and off campus as omicron surges

It’s the hot commodity stores can’t keep on shelves — at-home COVID-19 tests. In Nashville, CVS, Walgreens and other retailers have empty shelves where at-home test kits should sit. When new shipments of tests arrive in stores, they are often sold out within the hour, said a pharmacist at the Publix 8th Avenue location. Online orders and clinic appointments take weeks to get. But as the on-campus population begins to return to Belmont on Saturday and Sunday, Health Services D

Back to school, back to Zoom: Belmont to start spring classes online, citing spread of omicron

Anna Jackson

Dec 28, 2021
1 min

Back to school, back to Zoom: Belmont to start spring classes online, citing spread of omicron

Belmont’s campus and classes will once again go virtual for the first two weeks of the upcoming semester due to the rapid rise of the COVID-19 omicron variant. Classes will meet online through Jan. 18 — the Tuesday after Martin Luther King Jr. Day — and student residence halls will remain closed until Jan. 15, university Provost Thomas Bruns said in an email Tuesday. The change of plans comes barely a week before the spring semester is set to begin on Jan. 5. Meanwhile, new C

‘Mask violations abound’: Belmont faculty member challenges university COVID-19 protocol

Sarah Maninger

Sep 23, 2021
5 min

‘Mask violations abound’: Belmont faculty member challenges university COVID-19 protocol

The Belmont community is abuzz with reactions to a Nashville Scene article submitted by an anonymous Belmont professor condemning the university’s lack of COVID-19 precautions. In the article, which was published to the Scene website Tuesday, the author said Belmont “has thrown out all precautions except one,” referring to the university’s indoor mask mandate for all students, faculty and staff, regardless of vaccination status — a mask mandate which often goes unobserved. “V

Students take their shot at Belmont Health Services’ pop-up vaccine clinic

Connor Daryani

Sep 22, 2021
2 min

Students take their shot at Belmont Health Services’ pop-up vaccine clinic

The lines at Tuesday’s vaccine clinic were far shorter than those at the grand opening of the campus Chick-fil-A last week, despite publicity from the university and a choice of COVID-19 vaccines. Belmont hosted a walk-up vaccine clinic to boost the student vaccination rate against COVID-19, which sits at 67.9% according to data released Monday. The clinic offered a choice of the Johnson & Johnson, Moderna and Pfizer vaccines, as well as the seasonal flu shot and other routin

OPINION: Belmont must join other US universities in mandating the COVID-19 vaccine

Sarah Maninger

Sep 4, 2021
3 min

OPINION: Belmont must join other US universities in mandating the COVID-19 vaccine

Belmont needs to do better. The release of the university’s COVID-19 vaccination rates Tuesday showed only 63% of students received vaccinations against the virus. The university strongly encourages the vaccine on a voluntary basis, but as case numbers start to rise once again at Belmont and beyond — this time with deadlier, more contagious variants in the mix — it’s clear that strong encouragement isn’t enough. The upward trends in case frequency tell an all-too-familiar sto