On Thursday, Rutgers University announced that it will be requiring all students to be vaccinated prior to returning to campus for the 2021 fall semester.
According to the university’s news website, the school will allow certain students to avoid the requirement and request an exemption. They can do this for religious or medical purposes. Students that are fully enrolled in programs that are online and “individuals participating in online-only continuing education programs” will also not have to get vaccinated.
“We are committed to health and safety for all members of our community, and adding COVID-19 vaccination to our student immunization requirements will help provide a safer and more robust college experience for our students,” said Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway in a statement.
“The COVID-19 vaccines have proven to be safe and effective in preventing serious illness, hospitalization and death,” said Brian Strom, chancellor of Rutgers Biomedical and Health Sciences and executive vice president for health affairs at Rutgers. “Vaccination is key to stopping the current pandemic and to the return of campus instruction and activities closer to what we were accustomed to before the pandemic drastically changed life at Rutgers.”
Students under the age of 18 will be counseled by the school to get the Pfizer vaccine, which is the only vaccine that has been approved for use by people who are below the age of 16. Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are all approved for people over the age of 18.
“Since the start of the pandemic, we have said that the safety of the Rutgers community is a shared responsibility,” said Antonio Calcado, executive vice president and chief operating officer at Rutgers. “An effective vaccination program is a continuation of Rutgers’ commitment to health and safety for all members of our community of more than 71,000 students, the cities we are in and the communities we serve throughout New Jersey.”
Calcado also said that as vaccines are becoming easier to access, employees and faculty are being encouraged to get vaccinated, per the site.
In an announcement to the university, Holloway, Calcado, and the executive vice president for academic affairs stated that the immunization requirements for the university will now include the COVID-19 vaccine. The statement also outlined the benefits that would come from many people receiving the COVID-19 vaccination at the university.
Their statement reads:
Broad immunization is critical to help stop the current pandemic and to protect our University community. Benefits specific to the Rutgers community include:
- An expedited return to pre-pandemic normal
- Additional face-to-face course offerings and academic experiences
- Opportunities for a wider range of events and activities offered at our campuses
- Expanded dining and recreation options at Rutgers
- Greater interpersonal collaboration among faculty, students, and researchers
The statement also says that the school has been given approval by the state to use clinics at the university in order to administer the vaccines. However, it is encouraging people connected to the school to get vaccinated through the state’s avenues if they are eligible since the school has not yet received vaccines to distribute.
The school adds that President Biden’s encouragement for states to allow all persons to be eligible for vaccination by the early summer months, as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s release of guidelines for people who are fully vaccinated, gave the school the ability to make these plans.