Annual Meeting COVID-19 Updates

(Last Updated 9/23/22): We are meeting in-person in Tulsa as planned, with precautionary measures appropriate to the circumstances as they evolve.

This year, in order to continue our initiatives to make the Annual Meeting as widely accessible as possible, we took proposals for virtual paper presentations from those who cannot travel. The Review Committee integrated accepted virtual proposals into a limited number of hybrid panels, whose recordings will be available asynchronously to registrants after the conference. Key plenary content will be livestreamed for a virtual audience.

With the pandemic still hanging over us, we must remain vigilant in our protocols to prevent the spread of Covid-19 at our event. We continue to monitor the situation so that our policies can best address the conditions that face us, informed by guidance from the U.S. Center for Disease Control for responsibly managing large gatherings. In this spirit, and with evolutions in the larger pandemic landscape in mind, our Covid prevention protocols include the following:

The Hyatt Regency Tulsa, our conference hotel, has an MERV-16 air filtration system, which is considered up to industry standards in the era of Covid to reduce the spread of airborne particles.
We ask all attendees to wear masks in meeting sessions and events to help protect our more vulnerable participants.
- We will provide complimentary masks to attendees at the registration desk.
- Please note that the hotel will house other guests who are not required to wear masks in the building.
We encourage all attendees to get vaccinated and/or boosted–preferably with a bivalent booster that provides extra protection against the Omicron variant–before the annual meeting if they are able to do so.
- Vaccines and boosters are considered to reach peak effectiveness two weeks after the shot. Plan to get boosted before September 28 to make sure you’re fully protected at our gathering!

As you contemplate your own plans, you may want to consider:

Registration: See Cancellations in Annual Meeting Policies for more information.
Reservations made within the AFS Block at the Hyatt Regency Tulsa can be changed or cancelled until 48 hours prior to check-in without any penalty. As of 9/20/22, the hotel is fully booked during our meeting dates.
Airfare: You should check with your airline, but many airlines continue to offer flexible tickets including providing credit to be used at a later date should you choose not to fly.
Travel insurance: AFS does not endorse any of these policies but you may want to consider purchasing travel insurance that covers COVID-related issues: Best Pandemic (COVID) Travel Insurance August 2021 – Forbes Advisor.