More than 30 colleges now say Covid vaccines will be mandatory
Washington April 25 2021 It is increasingly likely that students returning to college campuses in the fall will be required to get the Covid-19 vaccine.
In just the last few days, California State University and the University of California announced that all students, staff and faculty who plan to be on campus must be vaccinated against Covid — a move that will impact more than 1 million people.
Across the country, a growing number of other colleges and universities have also said vaccinations will be mandatory for the fall of 2021, including:
Yale University, Georgetown University, Stanford University, Wesleyan University, Grinnell College, Bowdoin College, George Washington University, American University, Emory University, Clark Atlanta University, Morehouse College, Spelman College, College of the Atlantic in Maine, Seattle University, Vassar College, Manhattanville College, Fairleigh Dickinson University and Assumption University in Worcester, Massachusetts.
They join a host of other schools that made similar announcements, including Duke University; Brown University; Northeastern University; the University of Notre Dame; Syracuse University; Ithaca College; Cornell University; Rutgers University; DePaul University and Columbia College in Chicago; Nova Southeastern University; Roger Williams University in Bristol, Rhode Island; Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado; and St. Edward’s University in Austin, Texas.
Even more institutions are likely to follow, according to Lynn Pasquerella, president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities.
Across the country, campuses struggled to remain open over the last year as fraternities, sororities and off-campus parties drove sudden spikes in coronavirus cases among undergraduates. Meanwhile, students overwhelmingly declared remote school a mediocre substitute for being in the classroom.
As eligibility and access for Covid vaccines expands, schools must consider how a vaccine mandate can help higher education get back on track, Pasquerella said.
