“It’s a time of considerable uncertainty, and we know that uncertainty, for a lot of people, leads to worry,” says professor Bethany Teachman, director of clinical training in the department of psychology at the University of Virginia. Teachman, a licensed clinical psychologist with more than two decades of experience studying how people think differently when they are anxious, suggested the onslaught of new stresses, from delta fears to elevated uncertainty, brings much anxiety.
“I think it is clear that the government has a compelling interest in requiring vaccination. But it is certainly an undue hardship to expose your other workers to unvaccinated spreaders of the pandemic. So yes, employers can require vaccination,” Douglas Laycock, a UVA School of Law professor and church-state scholar, wrote in an email.
Despite hopes of putting away our masks and returning to normal life, the elta strain has now changed the narrative. According to Dr. Cameron Webb of the University of Virginia, while those vaccinated are protected against serious illness, they can now transmit the delta variant, which carries 1,000 times the viral load of the original COVID-19 virus. As Webb explains, inadequate vaccination rates, in failing to reduce the number of places where the virus can live, have failed to reduce its spread.
“If you have plans for 2021 that involve a COVID-free celebration, cancel them,” tweeted Dr. Ebony Hilton, co-founder and medical director at GoodStock Consulting and a critical care anesthesiologist at the University of Virginia. “This goes for weddings, birthday parties, and holidays. We could have learned from the error of our ways in 2020 but instead carried them right on into 2021.”
When work needs you to throw down but you’re ready to toss it aside, you may need to take a few minutes in the toolkit. Three UVA Health nurses are helping their colleagues take short breaks to ease long hours, smaller staffs and larger patient loads.
Doctors say some people have yet to get a COVID-19 vaccine because they’re concerned about allergic reactions. UVA Health wants to help with a new study. It will be one of 29 sites across the country studying the risks of allergic reactions to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines.
Changes have been made to the University of Virginia bus system for the fall semester. University Transit is adjusting its bus capacity and routes to help reduce the spread of COVID-19. Buses will not operate on McCormick Road until after 6 p.m. Masks will be required by all riders.
The University of Virginia disenrolled 238 students ahead of its fall semester for noncompliance with the school’s COVID-19 vaccine requirement. Of that number, 49 were enrolled in fall courses – meaning that “a good number” of the remaining students “may not have been planning to return to the University this fall at all,” UVA spokesperson Brian Coy said in an email.
“We know rainfall patterns are changing – more intense, more frequent storms,” said Jonathan Goodall, a UVA engineering professor who co-chaired a recent study for the General Assembly on climate change impacts in Virginia, during a presentation to the Joint Commission on Technology and Science earlier this week. “Those aren’t limited to the coast. Those will happen across the commonwealth.”
One 5-year-old cancer patient has grown up to become a doctor herself, and she just celebrated her white coat ceremony at UVA. But there’s more. The doctor who treated her years ago, Dr. Loren Walensky, is reacting to the touching news. When he met the then 3-year-old Kate Franklin, the two instantly developed a special bond.
Before UVA students come back to Grounds, they were required to be vaccinated unless they have a religious or medical exemption. “Ninety-nine percent of students have complied with our requirements, so there’s only 1% of our entire student body that isn’t either vaccinated or doesn’t have a valid exemption,” UVA spokesperson Brian Coy said.
Emma Navarro, 20, of Charleston, S.C., is currently ranked No. 329. She won the NCAA singles title in May as a freshman at the University of Virginia after going 25-1 in collegiate singles, a program record for single-season win percentage. She earned a qualifying wild card into the 2019 US Open as the USTA Girls’ 18s finalist.
Former UVA standout Trey Murphy was the 17th overall pick in the July 29 NBA draft. Based on the results from just-completed summer league, he’s already begun to outperform that status. Murphy was named to the All-NBA Summer League First Team on Wednesday, after helping to spearhead New Orleans to a 5-0 record in Las Vegas, often winning in dominant fashion.
Edgar Allan Poe was born in Boston in 1809 to traveling actors. He was only 3 years old when his parents died, and as a result, he was taken in by John Allan, a rich tobacco merchant from Virginia. As a child, Allan groomed Poe to be a successful businessman like himself, but the future writer had other interests. Eventually, Poe was sent to the University of Virginia. But being a miser, Allan sent him away without enough funds to support his education, and Poe eventually had to drop out of college.
Rohann Asfaw, a cross-country and track runner for the University of Virginia, started his TikTok account in the fall of 2018. Within four months, he had amassed more than 100,000 followers. Asfaw, who turned 22 earlier this month and is studying to get a master’s in educational psychology, used the app to post videos of himself dancing and participating in other viral trends and memes. He now has 1.3 million followers on the platform after uploading several posts a week. But because of NCAA rules, Asfaw could not profit from any of the popularity he gained from the app.
Dr. Leigh Ann Lather, University of Virginia School of Medicine: Dr. Lather is a pediatric surgeon who treats conditions including fractures, sports injuries, scoliosis and hip dysplasia. Before joining UVA Health, she worked in an underserved area of eastern North Carolina for 13 years.
Through a year and a half of pandemic hardships, the medical community has by and large risen to meet the moment. Below are 75 of the most outstanding and inspirational pathology and laboratory medicine professionals of 2021, according to The Pathologist. Anne Mills, associate professor of pathology, was among those listed in the “Leading Roles” category.
Alexis Ehrhardt, president and CEO of the Danville Pittsylvania County Chamber of Commerce, will leave for a job at the University of Virginia, the chamber announced Wednesday. In her new role at UVA, she will be the executive director for state government relations and special assistant to the president. Her last day at the chamber is Sept. 15.
Siddhartha Angadi, a cardiovascular physiologist and assistant professor at the University of Virginia, said published data does show that transgendered individuals had a substantially higher risk of strokes and heart attacks.
In addition to conceptual injustices, there are the daily slights and insults from living in a white-dominated academic world. Oludamini Ogunnaike, an assistant professor of African religious thought and democracy at the University of Virginia, recalls an orientation at his first tenure-track job.