COVID-19 resources for the Stanford community

Stanford strongly recommends masking indoors and in crowded outdoor settings. Masking is still required in healthcare facilities, including Vaden Health Center and Stanford hospitals and clinics. Individuals in Stanford facilities outside Santa Clara County are expected to follow local masking mandates (e.g. SLAC).

In compliance with a federal order, all Stanford faculty, staff and postdoctoral scholars, including those working remotely in the United States, and applicable subcontractors  were required to be fully vaccinated for COVID-19 and upload documentation on Health Check by Jan. 4, 2022, unless they have a medical or religious accommodation.

Students were required to be vaccinated  and to provide documentation of a booster, unless they have a medical or religious accommodation, by Jan. 31, 2022. Read more here.

COVID-19 vaccines are being administered by health care providers to eligible individuals based on criteria set by public health authorities. For the most current information, visit the Vaccinations page.

As of Oct. 24, 2022, face masks are no longer mandatory in classrooms. However, individual instructors will have the option of requiring masks in classes. Instructors who will require masking should inform students in advance on Canvas, the university’s learning management system, and by email.

Dining halls offer indoor dining at full capacity, with Clean Dining protocols.

Research activities continue at Stanford. Guidance for researchers is available here. Additional guidance is available on COVID policies, flexible work resources and requirements for returning to work on-site at Stanford.

Asymptomatic surveillance testing is not required for anyone (employees or students), but available if desired. 

Color testing continues to be available, up to two tests per week, for anyone who wishes to continue to use Color for regular asymptomatic testing.

See the Symptoms, Exposure, and Travel pages for more information about when to test. 

Dashboards provide aggregated results for the Stanford community. See the Testing page for more information.

Health Check to self-report health status is required for faculty, staff, or postdocs who are symptomatic, a close contact of someone who tested positive for COVID, or receive a positive COVID test result. Training on COVID hygiene is required before returning to work at a campus location for the first time.

Gatherings are required to comply with current COVID-19 event modifications, detailed here. Please fill out this EH&S Health Guidance form for more information, and visit Health Alerts for the latest guidance.

Guests from outside the Stanford community are permitted to visit student residences effective Oct. 8, 2021. Guests must comply with the Residence Agreement and follow the university’s COVID-19 visitor policy. Additional information on visiting scholars, researchers, nonmatriculated students and other visitors is available here and here.

The university made important updates to its domestic and international travel policy effective March 28, 2022. While these changes are intended to help campus units plan for future activities, Stanford recommends that unvaccinated non-U.S. citizens do not travel outside of the United States given the uncertainty around entry requirements. Current requirements and updates effective March 28 are available here.