I am writing this note to let you know that masks will once again be required at our joint DPS-EPSC meeting, to be held online and in San Antonio, TX from October 1-6, 2023. Our goal is to protect our community members to the best of our ability, noting that many of our members would not be able to attend the meeting without the protection provided by masks. As attendees from our London 2022 meeting remarked, “The COVID precautions taken by the LOC allowed me to attend (e.g. masking mandate)” and “I want to reiterate the importance of taking COVID precautions seriously moving forward. It was the sole reason I was able to attend this meeting in-person.”
Therefore, in order to provide a safe and equitable space for all of our members, we therefore ask that all attendees wear a N95, KN95, KF94, or FFP2 mask, or one of equivalent protection. To facilitate this process, we will provide two such masks for each in-person attendee.
This year, however, we will not require in-person attendees to be vaccinated for COVID-19. Instead, we are asking people to avoid the meeting if they are feeling unwell. Our full “Statement of Care” for DPS-EPSC 2023 can be found here: https://aas.org/meetings/dps55/statement-of-care
Thank you for keeping our community safe. I hope to see many of you in October.
Catherine Neish
DPS Chair