Dear community,
I wish to update you on the work we are undertaking to prepare KAUST for the next phase of the COVID-19 pandemic, that being the emergence of a vaccine for COVID-19.
No doubt we have all noticed the increasing media coverage of emerging vaccines and their imminent approval for usage in various jurisdictions internationally. Naturally, this has brought many of us a sense of hope and the prospect of a path out of this pandemic in the near future. My hope is that 2021 will be very much a new chapter and we can look back at what was an exceptionally challenging year but one I am proud to say KAUST navigated successfully.
Of course, we must all remain vigilant until the vaccine process takes effect – we must keep adhering to the public health restrictions that have kept KAUST safe – but I also do want to share with the you the proactive work we have instigated so as to ensure we are well positioned to take advantage of the vaccine, when it becomes available to us.
I have recently formed a vaccine working group to prepare KAUST for the eventuality of a vaccine for COVID-19. The group was established with representation from the academic, health, safety, and regulatory membership to identify COVID-19 vaccination options for KAUST and create a vaccination plan that operationalizes vaccine distribution and administration in KAUST. The working group is partnering with many other departments in KAUST to ensure vaccine availability, orderly population prioritization, transportation and storage logistics, and effective roll-out on campus.
The Working Group membership are as follows:
Erik Talley
Pierre J. Magistretti
Daniel Buttigieg
Rodion V. Gorchakov
Yasir M. Alharbi
Arnab Pain
The vaccine program in Saudi Arabia is being led by the Government. Therefore, the KAUST Working Group is currently liaising closely with the Ministry of Health with the expectation being that the university will form a part of the Governments nationwide vaccine roll-out.
In preparation for the vaccine, the Working Group’s plan seeks to address issues such as prioritization within the campus population, the expectation being that prioritization of groups will follow the government’s guidelines and specific requirements for vaccination. Since vaccination is expected to greatly reduce impact and transmission of COVID-19, the Working Group is also considering what mitigation measures may be relaxed – individually for those vaccinated, as well for the community – when a particular level of immunization is achieved (so-called herd immunity). However, this will be dependent on a very high level of vaccine participation.
The issue of achieving a high level of participation is critical to the success of the vaccine program and is one that the Working Group intends to address. There is now the prospect that the KAUST community can be vaccinated within a relatively short timeline – potentially, in quarter one or early quarter two, 2021 – and so I have asked the Working Group to shortly communicate the details of the vaccine roll-out plan to the campus community.
To communicate the plan and to address questions that are likely to arise regarding the vaccine, the Working Group will host a KAUST Community Town Hall meeting in the near future. The Town Hall will include a presentation of the plan by the Working Group as well as a community question and answer session, so that we all receive the reassurances that are key to achieving maximum participation in the vaccination program.
We have come a long way since spring 2020. We have reopened our university, our laboratories, our entrepreneurship center, and our schools. We have restricted so many aspects of our lives and we continue to do so. The next chapter to completing this journey, and getting back to ‘normal’ in 2021, is the successful implementation of a vaccination program. To achieve this we need everyone onboard because as I have said throughout this COVID-19 journey, we are stronger when we work together.
Thank you,
Tony Chan
KAUST President
