COVID-19 and its Impact on Harvard Medical School

The COVID-19 pandemic reached the US in February 2020 and impacted Harvard Medical School the following month. On March 16, 2020, HMS first closed its campus for a two-week lockdown and quarantine. Essential employees remained on campus and labs remained open. HMS continued virtual activities until the transition back to in-person classes began for the Fall 2021 semester. HMS campus started to re-open in July 2021. Harvard University required all in-person students to be vaccinated against COVID-19 for the Fall 2021 semester. Due to the easily transmittable nature of the Omicron variant of COVID-19, vaccine booster shots were required for the Spring 2022 semester.