UB lifting mask mandate March 5

Buffalo, N.Y. – University at Buffalo Provost A. Scott Weber and Allison Brashear, MD, vice president for health sciences and dean of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, announced via email to campus this morning that UB will lift its mask mandate effective March 5.

Text of Weber’s and Brashear’s email to campus is as follows:

“We are pleased to announce that starting Saturday, March 5, the University at Buffalo will make masks optional on its campuses. Students, faculty, staff and visitors, regardless of vaccination status, will no longer be required to wear masks in most settings, indoors or outdoors. Anyone who wishes to continue wearing a mask in a classroom, office or other campus space is welcome to do so.

With support from UB’s Health Guidelines Committee, the decision follows a recent change in guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and a decision by Gov. Kathy Hochul to lift the mask mandate in K-12 schools, as well as revised guidelines from SUNY.  

With rapidly declining case numbers in Erie County and a strong vaccination rate at UB, we welcome this emerging return to normal. As the university continues to monitor conditions in consultation with local health officials, we’ll be sure to keep you updated of any further changes to UB’s health and safety guidelines. As always, you can find the latest authoritative information on UB’s COVID-19 Planning and Response site.

In keeping with state and federal regulations, masks will continue to be mandatory for everyone aboard UB buses and shuttles and in clinical health care settings on campus. UB faculty, staff and students who work or learn at hospitals, nursing homes, clinics or diagnostic and treatment centers off campus must continue to comply with any site-specific regulations in place.

Mandatory weekly testing will continue for faculty, staff and students who are on campus regularly and are not up to date with their vaccinations, including those with a valid medical or religious exemption.

We are gratified to see our faculty, students and staff bringing renewed activity and energy to UB’s campus spaces, a trend made possible in large part by the commitment to safety shown by our community. To continue this forward momentum, we urge everyone to get vaccinated and boosted, and to upload that information as soon as possible—students, using Health Services’ patient portal; employees, using Human Resources’ web form.

Thank you for your continued support of our UB Community's wellness.”