At least five American colleges and universities have announced plans to require students to be fully vaccinated before returning to campuses in the fall.
Students attending Cornell University, Rutgers University, Fort Lewis College, Nova Southeastern University and St. Edward’s University will have to be fully vaccinated before returning to campus in the fall, with limited exemptions for underlying medical conditions and religious beliefs.
“A widely vaccinated student body offers our best hope of returning to the practical, inclusive, experiential and personalized learning environment that we all love,” letter from Fort Lewis College president Tom Stritikus to the university community.
“Thus, all students enrolled at the FLC for the fall of 2021 should receive a COVID-19 vaccine,” added Stritikus.
In a letter to the Cornell community, President Martha E. Pollack wrote that the university “intends to require vaccinations for students who return to campuses in Ithaca, Geneva and Cornell Tech in the fall semester.”
Pollack wrote that the decision was made after “recent announcements to expand vaccine eligibility in New York and other states, and increased vaccine production,” making it “likely” that community members will be able to receive a vaccine in the spring or summer.
Pollack added that individuals who cannot be inoculated before their arrival for the fall semester, or whose vaccination is not recognized by the state of New York, “should be vaccinated as soon as possible, and Cornell is investigating ways to facilitate this process. “
Leaders at Rutgers University wrote a letter to their community last month, writing “The anticipated additional availability of the COVID-19 vaccine is allowing Rutgers to take steps to protect the health of our academic community and move towards a complete return to our normal pre-pandemic as a vibrant institution in the fall of 2021. ”
Nova Southeastern University issued a statement on Friday announcing its intention to resume “full classroom learning for face-to-face courses” in the fall semester, and its requirement that students, teachers and staff returning to campuses be fully vaccinated.
On March 29, the COVID-19 Coordination Team at St. Edward’s University announced that the university will require the COVID-19 vaccine for all campus employees and students aged 16 and over, beginning September 1.
Advertisements from various universities come as data shows that university students are a significant spread of the virus. According to The New York Times, more than 120,000 cases of the coronavirus have been linked to American colleges and universities since January 1, and more than 530,000 cases since the beginning of the pandemic.
Some universities, however, are not yet demanding vaccine requirements, but instead are trying to encourage students to be vaccinated. Dickinson State University, for example, said students who prove a full range of vaccinations may be exempt from the current campus-wide masking mandate.