Students and staff have no chance of returning to Cornell this fall unless they get the COVID-19 vaccine, the school said in a statement.
“With recent announcements to expand vaccine eligibility in New York and other states, and increased vaccine production, it is likely that all members of our community will be able to get vaccination this spring or summer,” Cornell President Martha Pollack and Provost Michael Kotlikoff wrote on Friday.
“Thus, Cornell intends to require vaccination for students who return to the campuses in Ithaca, Geneva and Cornell Tech in the fall semester.”
Exceptions will be made for those with religious and medical exemptions, the statement said.
The announcement came after Governor Cuomo said on Monday that anyone over the age of 16 will be eligible for the vaccine in New York starting April 6.
Cornell hopes that access to the vaccine will lead to “herd immunity”, which will allow all face-to-face classes to return to their pre-pandemic state in the fall.
Rutgers University in New Jersey is considered the first university to impose vaccines in a March 25 ad.
Other colleges and universities are expected to follow suit.