Amherst College president addresses fall semester in thoughtful, sobering letter:
https://www.amherst.edu/amherst-story/president/statements/node/770411
@marrast i think that letter has been posted in full by @ChemAM on this thread. Letters like this are telling it like it really is. That’s why I don’t get how so many universities are sending out messages like “we‘ll be welcoming students back in the fall!” like all is figured out. This is very complicated. Someone on another thread questioned why some schools would not go back. All you have to do is read the Amherst letter to know the answer to that question.
Oh sorry, not keeping up, obviously.
@cinnamon1212 that is not true about the polio vaccine. They aren’t testing it at all on Covid patients. The study is still about polio not Covid. What they are saying is that this kind of oral vaccine is made differently than the other vaccines we get and that researchers are also starting research for Covid oral vaccine.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/04/200423130455.htm
@homerdog – sorry I wasn’t clear. I know they are not testing it on covid patients, it is to be used as a preventative on people before they get covid. The hypothesis is that it boosts one’s immune system, so that although it doesn’t prevent COVID, it makes the illness much, much less severe. There are studies showing this to be true against other viruses, like influenza.
My point: if this is shown to be true, then everyone gets the OPV before going to campus, and any inevitable outbreaks will be as if it were a cold passing through, vs a lifethreatening disease. (Probably overstating, but that’s the gist)
@marrast impossible to keep up! 
@cinnamon1212 can you find that story? I looked today and don’t see any reports that show a current, available polio vaccine has any effect on Covid.
@homerdog I don’t think that’s what colleges mean when they say they intend to be open in fall. I bet they will institute changes like Amherst mentioned too, but just haven’t announced them yet. As someone who attends Amherst, I can say that President Biddy Martin is always very deliberate and overly cautious in her letters. I don’t think this letter has any implication on what other colleges intend to do. I just think Biddy is being overly cautious, and fully believe we will be back in fall.
Trials have been suggested, but that’s all so far: https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2020/04/21/oral-polio-vaccine-has-potential-treat-coronavirus-column/5162859002/ (I vaguely recall, or suspect, that there were significant reasons why OPV is generally not given in the US.) With most already having the regular polio vaccine, I wonder what the effect of OPV in addition would be (maybe the OPV risks would be mitigated? just thinking out loud).
The BCG vaccine is also intriguing, and there are trials underway for coronavirus, but then there would be an issue with subsequent TB testing.
Nothing has been proven.
Here’s an interview with Dr. Gallo. https://www.umaryland.edu/news/archived-news/april-2020/can-an-oral-polio-vaccine-stop-covid-19.php
He’s been getting a lot of press: http://www.ihv.org/news/2020-News/Can-an-Oral-Polio-Vaccine-Stop-COVID-19.html
And an article re: using other vaccines as preventives. https://apnews.com/ae72d066a2caa17de91be9a60e4934b9
I’m not sure how realistic it is to think that there would be data to warrant re-dosing everyone in time to manufacture enough doses, and get them administered, before students return to school, be it college or K-12.
@ChemAM i just meant that Amherst is being honest with its students by delivering a message that shows how complicated a return could be while some other schools just say the equivalent of “will be back to n campus, maybe some larger classes will be online”. No mention of spreading kids out in dorms, masks, testing, social distancing, cancelation of sports and other large events. So, people who aren’t on CC all of the time think “oh the virus should be under control and we will be back to campus!” I know this because many of my neighbors are very nonchalant about this. Think their kids are going back to UIUC, Wisconsin, Alabama, etc with just a few small changes. The Amherst letter spells out that life on campuses certainly won’t be what these neighbors of mine are expecting.
It might be for Alabama. Few cases, lots from in state.
Clearly my google skills leave something to be desired. Thanks @cinnamon1212 and @Mwfan1921
How one college, Harvard, dealt with the Spanish Flu, the last major pandemic:
https://www.thecrimson.com/article/2018/2/1/harvard-influenza-outbreak-1918/
The Amherst letter is a quite sobering (and a bit depressing) but rather realistic view on the fall. Wish we could just freeze time and delay everyone for a semester (or two). These kids, including mine, who are chomping at the bit to get back to or start campus life don’t realize what that actually means. The fall, best case scenario, will be vastly different for all students.
@INJParent Thank you for this. I am certain some schools will attempt to open no matter what- some of those schools will likely need to adopt major changes or send students home mid-semester.
However, just the idea of five students dying on a college campus due to a college not following medical advice to limit activities is almost unthinkable today. If that were to happen this fall the school would face intense scrutiny in the media and, likely, lawsuits.
Is education in person an essential activity? Could colleges seek liability reform or a so - called immunity shield - to be shielded from lawsuits by faculty , staff, and students if they die from COVID-19 caught on campus? Hospitals and nursing homes are reported to be seeking immunity from lawsuits? Could the President order a variety of industries to remain open, as was done for the meatpacking industry? Or groceries, warehouses, truck drivers - can these workers sue over unsafe conditions of employment if they catch COVID-19?
I guess part of the issue with these presidents’ messages is that we don’t know yet what will be needed to keep an outbreak from happening. Amherst’s president is assuming things won’t be much different than today and he’s trying to plan in that way. I can barely see how his plan would work on a small, closed campus and can’t see at all how it would work at a big university. Big universities don’t put out sobering messages like this because they can’t address these problems in the same way and they really need to hope for more progress on the virus. Their hopeful messages assume their states will be through the worst of this first wave by fall.
I have been following this too. I would add K-12 schools to the list.
In the absence of a vaccine, outbreaks will happen be it at a residential college, or among the off-campus population who will return whether school is online or in-person, or K-12 schools.
I continue to not understand why K-12 schools and their potential return is not more an issue on this thread. S21 will be in close contact with many other kids all day long at his 3,000 person HS…all those kids, plus hundreds of staff inside one building for 7-8 hours.
Then those 3,000 kids and hundreds of staffers go home every night to a lot of parents/significant others (easily 6,000 people) and have close contact with many who were on trains, planes, in office buildings, etc…bringing any potential exposures back to the HS the next day. Rinse and repeat for 5 days every week.