Photograph by Will Halsey/Courtesy of the Harvard Alumni Association
The Harvard Alumni Association (HAA) today notified members of reunion classes that their spring functions would be conducted virtually. In an email, Philip W. Lovejoy, HAA executive director, wrote:
In consultation with University leadership and Harvard University Health Services, this year we will host 2021 Reunions and the Annual Meeting of the HAA only virtually and will not plan any in-person gatherings.
Despite progress toward deploying vaccines against the coronavirus, he noted, travel disruptions and restrictions on gatherings are highly likely to linger throughout the spring.
Thus, reunions and the annual meeting (the “afternoon exercises” of Commencement day) are not being canceled; for the second year in a row, they are shifting to an online format. Reunion events will take place from June 3 to June 5, and the annual meeting on June 4. Postponement was not an option, Lovejoy has explained: reunion
Harvard is gearing up to expand coronavirus testing and potentially obtain Covid-19 vaccine doses for its affiliates ahead of the spring semester, Harvard University Health Services Director Giang T. Nguyen said in an interview Monday.
Nguyen said health measures implemented during the fall semester were âvery successfulâ in containing the spread of the virus on campus because Harvard affiliates adhered to safety guidelines and participated in frequent testing.
âOur community was very responsive to understanding that the risk was there,â he said. âBy testing frequently, we were able to identify folks who were infected and then advise them to take themselves out of circulation.â
The Harvard School of Dental Medicine will reopen the Harvard Dental Service under its direction in February 2021, the school announced in a press release Wednesday.
Harvard University Health Services announced in September that its dental clinic would permanently close on Dec. 31 due to years-long financial strain. HDSM’s announcement marks a reversal of that step the school is set to open the Harvard Dental Center–Cambridge in the HUHS clinic’s old location at 114 Mt. Auburn Street.
HSDM currently provides direct patient care at the Harvard Dental Center in the Longwood Medical Area. The new Cambridge practice will serve dental patients who used the former HUHS Dental Service and retain a “number” of the service’s staff, according to the press release.