Protect Purdue Summary Report Fall 2021
Purdue was deliberate in deciding not to impose a vaccine mandate but rather to offer students, faculty and staff the choice to get vaccinated or to participate in regular surveillance testing for the fall semester.
In all, 1,173 students and 397 employees tested positive for COVID-19 during the semester with 91,673 tests administered by the Protect Purdue Health Center, from Aug. 1-Dec. 31, 2021. And of the unique individuals tested at Purdue during the fall semester, more than two-thirds had been vaccinated.
91,673
TESTS PERFORMED ON CAMPUS
1,570
TOTAL POSITIVE TESTS
221 Lived in University Residences
76 Lived in congregate housing (fraternity, sorority, cooperative living)
876 Lived off campus
Greater than 99% were asymptomatic, had very mild, mild or more moderate symptoms
Less than 1% had significant or severe symptoms (including hospitalizations)
By taking a data- and insight-driven approach with its Protect Purdue measures for pre-arrival, surveillance and symptomatic testing, Purdue was able to be more efficient, effective and responsive in helping ensure the safety of its students, faculty and staff and the most vulnerable members of the University community.
A key player in Purdue’s efforts to test thousands of students, faculty members and staff each week for COVID-19 is the Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory in the College of Veterinary Medicine. Known as ADDL, the lab gained certification for testing human SARS-CoV-2 samples in April 2020, deploying its trained staff, expertise and equipment to administer the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test.
Led by Dr. Kenitra Hendrix, clinical associate professor of veterinary diagnostic microbiology, ADDL has answered the call for high-volume, rapid and reliable COVID-19 testing to help ensure the safety and health of the campus population when Purdue reopened for in-person classes in August 2020. Purdue ADDL sampled 7,765 PCR tests for the Purdue community during Fall 2021. The rest, nearly 84,000 tests, were antigen rapid tests administered by the Protect Purdue Health Center.
As word spread about COVID-19 variants that PCR tests could not detect, the ADDL team quickly pivoted to focus on its sequencing capabilities for identifying variants. During all of 2021, ADDL sequenced 1,052 samples identifying the Delta and Omicron variants. In all, the lab sequenced 100+ samples of the Omicron strain, which rapidly surpassed Delta as the main variant circulating on campus during the fall semester.