Test When You Return
All students and campus employees must conduct a PCR test on the day they return to campus, except if they’ve had COVID-19 in the last 90 days.
Get tested
Remote Start to Winter
UC San Diego is exercising caution and moving winter quarter instruction to a remote-only mode through Jan. 31. All campus members must test when returning to campus.
More on winter quarter
COVID-19 Boosters
Appointments for COVID-19 vaccine boosters are now available for all students as well as campus and health employees.
Make an appointmentLatest Updates
- Looking for one source of guidance? Visit the On-Campus Checklist with the most up-to-date information you need.
- Received a positive test result? Learn what steps to take next.
- Students preparing to move into on-campus housing, please refer to the Student Housing Safety page for instructions.
- Supervisors should encourage remote work until the end of January where operational needs permit.
- In-person meetings and events should be remote or rescheduled through Jan. 30.
- All students and campus employees must receive a booster by Jan. 31 (or within 30 days of becoming eligible.) Schedule an appointment.
- All students and campus employees, regardless of vaccination status, must complete a PCR test on the day they return to campus, unless they have had COVID-19 in the last 90 days. Pick up a test from a test kit vending machine or make an appointment.
- If you have a positive COVID-19 PCR test, you are not required to conduct another test for 90 days. If you tested positive outside of UC San Diego, students should send results to shsmr@ucsd.edu and employees should send results to COEMexposure@health.ucsd.edu.
Return to Campus
Returning to campus and don’t know where to start? Visit the On-Campus Checklist to review the steps needed prior to arriving for work or study. Return to campus plans are informed by extensive modeling by data experts, who combine multiple layers of protection to promote campus safety. Before coming to campus, please review masking, screening, testing, vaccination and training requirements and find resources to address any additional questions you may have.
Symptom and Exposure Screening
Campus Employees
All campus employees (including faculty and researchers) working on-site must complete a daily self-screening for COVID-19 and report any symptoms or confirmed exposures.
Students
All undergraduate and graduate students coming to campus (including residential) must conduct a daily self-screening for COVID-19 and report any symptoms or confirmed exposures.
UC San Diego Vaccination
All students and employees are required to be vaccinated and boosted against COVID-19 (or have an approved exemption), per University of California policy. All students and employees, including Health, are eligible to receive a free vaccine through UC San Diego’s vaccination clinic at Price Center, offered by appointment. Vaccination helps protect you and those around you from becoming seriously ill. Help us keep our campus community safe.
Campus Safety
Public health is a collective effort. The UC San Diego community is expected to follow campus safety requirements to help prevent infection. These include masking indoors, daily symptom and exposure screening, testing and vaccination. No one method is invulnerable, but by applying multiple layers of defense consistently you can help reduce your risk of contracting or spreading COVID-19.
COVID-19 Testing Options
During the Winter Quarter 2022, individuals who are not vaccinated and individuals who are vaccinated but have not received a vaccine booster will be required to test for SARS-CoV-2 two times per week, 3-5 days apart. Those fully vaccinated and boosted are encouraged to test voluntarily on a weekly basis. Access to campus COVID-19 testing is available via vending machine kits as well as by appointment at a community drive-thru location and the Price Center Vaccination Clinic.
Exposure and Contact Tracing
Students and campus employees who are a confirmed exposure will be contacted by the UC San Diego COVID Response Team and guided on next steps within 24 hours of the determination of exposure. If you have not been contacted, it is very likely that you were not deemed a close contact by the contact tracing team. If you have questions regarding exposure, contact tracing, or quarantine guidance, please visit the Exposure and Contact Tracing page or call UC San Diego Health’s Testing Support Line at (619) 543-8260 for assistance.
Town Halls
In an effort to provide regular updates and answer your questions, UC San Diego hosts monthly town halls about the Return to Learn program and campus operations during the COVID-19 pandemic. If you are not able to catch the live event, all of the webinars are archived on our Town Hall page.
Questions and Answers
We have conferred with our campus experts to bring you the latest information in response to your most urgent questions.
Taking on the COVID-19 Pandemic Together
Thanks to community support, UC San Diego’s COVID-19 response has been a success. And as we continue to increase vaccination rates in San Diego County — and make strides toward herd immunity — you can help us ensure equitable vaccine distribution for our neighbors across the region.