PR – Today, St. George’s University (SGU) announced that the SGU vaccine policy has contributed positively to reducing the risk of exposure to serious illness, hospitalization or even death to our campus community from the recent spike in COVID-19 cases over the last few weeks.
“Currently there are no COVID positive students, faculty, or staff on campus and although breakthrough infections are possible, our prevalence has remained low over the last few weeks. This is consistent with the strong scientific evidence of the vaccines’ safety and effectiveness,” said Dr. Charles Modica, chancellor of St. George’s University. “Our decisions are in sync with medical school organizations throughout the world, as well as the tourism establishments in Grenada which attract international travellers, and which have implemented similar polices to help keep their employees, visitors and the broader Grenada community safe.”
All SGU faculty and staff members were informed in the spring that they would be required to inform the University of their intent to be vaccinated at the beginning of the summer on June 15.
“We value every member of our SGU community—from the newest to the longest-serving members—whose contributions to the success of our students have been invaluable and our policies and safety protocols on campus have maintained the livelihoods of many employees in Grenada,” said Dr. Richard Liebowitz, vice chancellor of St. George’s University. “The overwhelming medical and scientific evidence have shown the soundness of our policy to require that all students, faculty, staff, vendors, and visitors on campus be vaccinated. Our actions throughout this pandemic have shown the utmost desire to keep our students, faculty and staff safe.
The University has maintained full pay, salary increases and benefits for all active employees since the onset of the pandemic in March 2020, even as the campus student population was significantly smaller at that time. In addition, no positions have been eliminated or furloughed as a result of the pandemic. The University continues to offer the option of returning to paid positions on campus once employees have demonstrated proof of full vaccination no later than January 3.
The Grenada Ministry of Health has reported that 94.8% of deaths related to COVID-19 have been among unvaccinated members of the community. SGU is committed to supporting the government’s efforts to provide education and awareness to minimize the possibility of a second wave of illness, hospitalization, and death from COVID-19 infections.
SGU continues to strengthen the COVID-19 response effort by procuring and facilitating the shipment of large quantities of medical supplies, including personal protective equipment (PPE).
A collaborative effort between SGU faculty, and students and its alumni network has provided support to the Ministry of Health by securing physician support and medical and pharmaceutical supplies to assist physicians, nurses, and other healthcare personnel working on the ground. Among these supplies were oxygen equipment, which are already in use, providing relief to recovering COVID-19 patients.
More supplies and support, including physician and nursing support, will be arriving in the coming days and weeks to continue to prevent transmission and support the Grenadian community with health and safety.
