U.S. Colleges Bring Back Covid Restrictions as Omicron Spreads

Facing rising infections and a new COVID-19 variant, colleges across the U.S. have once again been thwarted in seeking a move to normalcy and are starting to require booster shots, extend mask mandates, limit social gatherings and, in some cases, revert to online classes.

The threat of the omicron variant comes as a gut punch to schools that were hoping to relax safety measures this spring.

Now, many are telling students to prepare for another term of masking, testing and, if cases get bad, limits around social life.

Cornell University abruptly shut down all campus activities on Tuesday and moved final exams online after more than 700 students tested positive over three days.

New York University has also gone remote.

Austin Terchek, a senior at NYU, said that he is hearing about about a lot of fellow students testing positive.

"I think it's definitely a good decision. I can say, like I'm a senior, all my friends are 21, Santacon this past weekend and people have been getting sick a lot. Some people have had negative COVID tests. Nobody I'm directly like was with. But I know that stuff is going around. So with everybody in big lecture halls taking exams, I think it's definitely a good idea to go online," said Terchek.

Much is still unknown about the omicron variant and how big of a threat it poses. In the United States and many other nations, the delta variant is currently responsible for most COVID-19 cases.

But as colleges brace for the worst, many see boosters as their best hope.

More than 30 colleges have issued booster shot requirements in recent weeks, and others say they're thinking about it.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is encouraging boosters for people ages 17 and older, and Pfizer last week announced that a booster of its COVID-19 vaccine might offer important protection against omicron even though the initial two doses appear less effective.

Hundreds of colleges already require COVID-19 vaccines, and some say boosters are an obvious next step.

Most booster mandates so far have come from small liberal arts colleges in the Northeast, but the list includes some as big as Boston University and NYU, and as far away as the University of Notre Dame in Indiana and the University of New Mexico.

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