1. Conference registration starts June 5, 2023. During the online registration process, you will be asked to 

EITHER:

a. Attest you have received a bivalent COVID-19 vaccine. Bivalent vaccines contain components of both the original SARS-CoV-2 strain and the Omicron variant. Please also bring  paper or digital proof of your vaccination to the conference. 

- For US residents, this means you received a booster shot during or after September 2, 2022. If you received ANY vaccination in the USA from April 24, 2023 to July 13, 2023 regardless of your prior vaccination history, you are also up-to-date.

- For international residents, up-to-date means you received a booster shot after August 16, 2022. If you received a bivalent vaccine at anytime from August 16, 2022 - July 13, 2023,  regardless of your vaccination history, you are also up-to-date. Starting on May 12, international residents are no longer required to show proof of vaccination to fly into the USA.

- If you are not sure whether the vaccine you received was bivalent, ask the facility where you were immunized.

OR

b. Attest you will wear a mask (preferably N95 or equivalent) when attending Conference-related activities or when in or around Conference spaces. We include this option especially for people who have medical exemptions to vaccination and/or are not able to receive a booster shot/ bivalent vaccine due to their country's vaccine availability or rules limiting who can receive booster shots. Wearing a mask will decrease your and others' chances of becoming sick.

 

2. We encourage everyone to wear a N95 or equivalent mask anytime you are attending Conference-related activities or when in or around Conference spaces. This is especially important when you are indoors or around many people. Harassment of people wearing masks will not be tolerated and may result in ejection from the conference.

 

3. Use outdoor spaces and maintain some degree of physical distance as possible.  The university campus is large with many places to sit outdoors. We encourage you to take advantage of such spaces.

 

4. If you become infected with SARS-Co-V-2, please do not attend the Conference. We will refund conference registration fees for any reason until July 13, 2023. After that, please contact us if you are sick and we will refund your fee. If you decide to maintain  your registration, you can watch proceedings afterwards as registration includes a month's access to online recordings.

 

5. If you plan to stay in dormitory housing and are NOT vaccinated, please wear your mask when using the common areas in the suites (i.e., bathrooms, living rooms). You do not have to wear a mask in your own room or other public areas of the dorms. If you are infected by SARS-CoV-2 during your stay, Stony Brook Housing requires you stay in your room until your isolation period ends.

(If you are interested in dorm housing, scroll down to Lauterbur/ Yang Halls for a virtual tour. You may indicate your interest in dorm housing via this poll. Each room will be $80 USD/ night and has 2 twin beds. Only registered conference attendees (i.e., not family members, friends) can use dorm rooms. Book dorm rooms when registering for the conference.)

 

6. IACFS/ME cannot guarantee that all attendees will follow our policies or that attendees will not become infected with SARS-CoV-2.   Thus, we also suggest every attendee bring 2 N95 or equivalent masks just in case. Furthermore, in attending the conference, you are acknowledging that you are comfortable with and will assume personal responsibility for the possible risk of infection and sickness. IACFS/ME will not be liable for any infection or sickness related to the conference.