Summary At-A-Glance
- We aim to keep this meeting judgement-free and mask-friendly.
- AOS 2026 relies on public health officials and their guidance to provide safety protocols to minimize exposure to communicable respiratory viruses such as COVID-19, influenza, measles, and RSV. We may amend these policies in response to changing public health guidance.
- Registrants testing positive for a respiratory virus coincidental with the meeting dates should not attend the AOS 2026 meeting.
Message to Participants
Over the last six years, the public health situation related to COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses has evolved considerably. We have learned more about the SARS-CoV-2 virus and how it spreads. We have vaccines and treatments, and we better understand the potential effects of infection, and as mutations in the virus and building immunity in individuals affect the level of risk. The AOS 2026 meeting will follow CDC health guidelines. Please check in frequently on this website and for notifications via email and social media (by following the meeting hashtag #AOS26).
Please consider your personal risk for respiratory disease and take steps to protect yourself. We also ask all those who are able to help keep one another as safe as possible by following core public health guidelines and recommendations on preventing the spread of respiratory viruses when you are sick, including:
- Stay up-to-date on your vaccines
- Practice good hygiene
- Consider additional prevention strategies including masking and regular testing
- Take actions to prevent disease spread if you are sick
To minimize risk of infection we request that attendees who are unwell or experience one or more symptoms of a cold or flu or COVID-19 or other communicable respiratory diseases immediately prior to the meeting, refrain from attending the meeting. If at any time during the meeting you feel unwell or experience one or more symptoms of a cold or flu, RSV, measles, or COVID-19, please confine yourself to your room, and test for COVID-19 if indicated. We encourage attendees to bring rapid antigen COVID tests and face masks with you to the meeting. Attendees should observe the current respiratory virus guidelines for determining the required self-isolation period in case of a documented positive test. These practices will help keep our community safe while in close quarters.
If You Become Ill
Meeting registration fees are non-refundable after 30 June at 11:59 p.m. ET. If you find it necessary to cancel your registration, we are able to refund your conference fee costs in full if cancellation notice is received prior toMay 31, 2026. We are able to refund conference fee costs (less a $100 USD processing fee) if we receive notice between June 1 and June 30, 2026. Refunds on registration fees will not be issued for cancellations received after 30 June 2026, except for individuals with illness from a communicable respiratory virus including Influenza, RSV, measles, or COVID-19, in which the recommended self-isolation period precludes travel to or attendance at the conference. The meeting will follow current U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines. In this situation, we ask that the participant fill out the Cancellation Request Form. Refunds will not be issued for “no-show” registrants for any reason. All refunds will be processed at the time of cancellation.
AOS 2026 will not issue refunds for individuals who experience illness during the meeting and who, as a result, must miss all or part of the meeting. We encourage attendees to obtain travel insurance to attend the AOS 2026 to recoup some expenses in the event of illness.
We hope to see you in Amherst this August! Thank you for helping to keep our meeting safe and accessible for our diverse community.
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