Masking
Guidelines
Masking is required in all indoor classroom and instructional settings, clinical areas, on university transportation and within residential areas.
See guidelines
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
- Regardless of vaccination status, all students must wear face masks within their residential unit (except for their personal bedrooms or in the shower) as well as in residential halls, elevators, lobbies, etc. Guests are currently not permitted in residential housing. Learn more on the Student Housing Safety page.
- There has been a small increase in COVID-19 cases on campus spurred by New England variants; masking indoors in highly trafficked areas is recommended but not mandated (free masks are available here).
- Masking remains required in all indoor classroom and instructional settings, clinical areas, and on university transportation.
- Please conduct a COVID-19 test if you experience symptoms, become exposed or if there is a positive wastewater signal in the building you live or work in.
- Additional COVID-19 boosters are available to those age 50 and older and those who are immunocompromised 4 months after their most recent vaccine dose. Schedule an appointment.
About Our Program
UC San Diego’s Return to Learn program began in May 2020 as a strategic response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The goal of the ongoing initiative is to continue in-person teaching, research and service in the safest way possible. Positive case rates on campus have remained consistently low compared to regional and national case rates. As a result, UC San Diego was able to resume full on-campus operations in fall 2021 and has served as a best practice model for other institutions.
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. Student employees should conduct the student screener.
Masking and Operations
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 within instructional areas, clinical spaces and on Triton Transportation; daily symptom and exposure screening; testing regularly; 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.
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.
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.
Wellness
Now more than ever it is important to tend to your mental and emotional wellbeing. Students and employees have access to a multitude of no-cost resources at UC San Diego to maintain wellness, including confidential counseling, self-guided tools, support groups, workshops and more. Whether you feel most comfortable with self-paced skill building, working one-on-one or finding community through support groups, there is a resource for everyone.
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.