June 9 - Updates on COVID-19

UCI Land won a CASE Gold Circle of Excellence award for its success in building school pride during the pandemic. Congratulations to all of the UCI awardees!

TODAY’S CAMPUS UPDATES

One new campus case*

One student resident and no on-campus employees tested positive for COVID-19 on Tuesday. For more information, visit the UCI COVID-19 dashboard.

UCI COVID-19 NEWS AND EVENTS

Lessons Learned

What’s next at UCI in a post-pandemic world? Academic leaders and students summarize the hardships of 2020 and – building on the university’s long tradition of innovation – discuss key takeaways from the past year and predict beneficial changes to come.

Unboxing Happiness wins Circle of Excellence award

To safely celebrate the Class of 2020, the UCI Alumni Association created the Senior Success Campaign, which consisted of a series of virtual and physical touchpoints that reached more than 7,400 graduating students. The Bronze Circle of Excellence award from the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) recognizes the program’s student engagement success.

Anteater Crossing wins another award

UCI Land, an animated Anteater-themed island created in Nintendo’s popular “Animal Crossing: New Horizons,” won a CASE Gold Circle of Excellence award. The judges said, “This program built upon the popularity of Animal Crossing to build school pride and show off their campus culture to new and different audiences, including those looking at colleges.”

#IamUCI: Kylie Jade Munson, B.S. in biological science

Kylie Munson walked into her first college class when she was only 11 years old. At 13, the Santa Clarita resident was nominated to represent California at the Congress of Future Medical Leaders, a conference for the brightest high school students who plan to become physicians. Soon after, Munson simultaneously graduated from Sage Oak High School with a 4.89 GPA and earned an associate degree at Los Angeles Mission College. Now, as she prepares to graduate from UCI with a bachelor’s degree at 15, Munson is ready to attend medical school and find cures for inherited diseases. To support her dreams, she was recently awarded the UCI Stanley Behrens Foundation Scholarship. When the driven teen isn’t studying genetics or tutoring, she pours her ambitious nature into cheerleading. In 2018, Munson’s cheerleading team the California Allstars Smoed won the elite international championship Worlds, and she brought the same energy to her tenure on the UCI Spirit Squad.

GENERAL COVID-19 NEWS

This section curates noteworthy coronavirus news, trends and opinions. No endorsement by UCI is implied. Note: Some news sites require subscriptions to read articles. The UCI Libraries offer free subscriptions to The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, OC Register and Washington Post for students, faculty and staff.

J&J working to extend shelf-life of its vaccine

Speaking during the Wall Street Journal Tech Health event on Wednesday, Johnson & Johnson Chairman and CEO Alex Gorsky said the company is working to ensure its vaccines can be used and deployed effectively. Gorsky's comments follow a statement the company released yesterday, saying it is working to extend the shelf-life of its COVID-19 vaccine, amid reports that doses may expire before they are used in the U.S.

Half of Americans 12 and older now vaccinated, CDC says

Less than a month after the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine was authorized for use in people as young as 12 years in the U.S. Half of those 12 and older have now been fully vaccinated, according to data published Tuesday by the CDC.

State Department eases travel warnings on Mexico, Canada, other countries

The U.S. State Department has loosened its travel warnings for dozens of nations, including Mexico, Canada, France and Germany, in a move that could ease airline restrictions for people wanting to go overseas as the COVID-19 pandemic wanes in parts of the world.

More than half of Californians now in yellow tier

Five more counties — including San Diego — officially moved into California’s least restrictive category this week as part of the final update to the state’s color-coded COVID-19 reopening roadmap.

HOPE, INSPIRATION, LAUGHTER