"That's one of the reasons why we support not doing regular asymptomatic testing for vaccinated individuals," he said. "We are doing that in conjunction with other groups as well and looking for best practices and guidelines for institutes of higher education."
He explained that UNC is trying to stay as current as possible with the recommended guidelines to understanding where the prevalence of disease rates could be highest.
Across the country, Barzin said positivity is most prevalent in the unvaccinated population. That is how they decided to exclude vaccinated individuals from the testing program for the fall semester.
Community reaction
Although vaccinated students will not be required to participate in mandatory testing during the semester, the testing program is open to anyone who wants to get tested voluntarily.
UNC sophomore Sophia Sherali said she would like to voluntarily get tested at least once a month to feel safe.
"Looking from a numeric standpoint I understand why they're not required because with the vaccine the percentage of getting COVID is significantly lower," she said. "But I think I'm in the minority who would actively seek out testing to make sure I don’t have COVID which kinda makes me nervous."
UNC students can go to ConnectCarolina and update their vaccination status. Once students attest to being vaccinated they will be excluded from the testing program. There is also an option for people who prefer not to disclose, and they will be involved in the testing program.
"We're going to look at the number of students that are unvaccinated, look at what is a reasonable cadence based off of best recommendations," Barzin said. "So we're still trying to formulate the best response in terms of the correct cadence as to how many times a week students would be tested."
Emma Brown, a sophomore, said she believes it also serves as a good incentive for other students to get vaccinated.
"I am vaccinated, so for me personally I am happy that I don't need to participate in the same asymptotic testing as last semester," she said. "I'm still nervous for the University as a whole though since the vaccine is not required."
Barzin said he has been involved in COVID response since the beginning of the pandemic. He said that one of the things that they’ve learned is that they must watch, wait, learn and adapt as fast as possible. They are continuing to develop guidance based on the best recommendations that are out there.
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He thinks that coming soon, they’ll have a better understanding of what the community standards will look like for requirements such as masking.
"I've been like a proud father, to be quite honest with you," he said. "When I see what the response was on our campus, this past semester is truly awesome to watch everyone come together and do the best they can to keep the campus community safe."
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