Teaching in the Time of the COVID-19 Vaccine

Abstract

The development and deployment of COVID-19 vaccines for the SARS-CoV-2 novel coronavirus has generated new hope and optimism that schools, colleges, and universities can return to in-person classroom instruction and teaching sometime in 2021. This paper summarizes the key factors affecting the personal health risks that teaching faculty face from returning to in-person classroom instruction and the steps that schools should take to prepare for fall 2021 re-opening. The rate of vaccination deployment and the rate of viral mutation are the key variables that will determine whether the USA will reach herd immunity before the fall 2021 term begins. Because those variables are beyond the control of schools, investments in testing capacity and updated HVAC systems (to improve both ventilation and filtration) should be made before fall 2021.

Keywords: in-class instruction, remote teaching, school reopening, COVID-19, HVAC improvements, health risk