A worker prepares materials for vaccination at University Hospital’s COVID-19 vaccine clinic at Rutgers New Jersey Medical School in Newark, New Jersey, U.S., December 15, 2020.
Eduardo Munoz | Reuters
Rutgers University will require students returning to its campus this fall to prove they’ve been vaccinated against Covid-19, becoming one of the first institutions in the U.S. to mandate the immunizations.
Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway announced the change Thursday, saying in a statement the university plans to update its immunization requirements for students on campus to include the Covid-19 vaccine.
Students will have to prove they’ve been fully vaccinated with any of the three shots currently cleared for use in the U.S. — Pfizer, Moderna or Johnson & Johnson — though students who are under 18 years old will only be eligible for the Pfizer shot.
Students who are fully enrolled in online courses without access to on-campus facilities will be exempt from getting vaccinated, according to the statement, as well as those with medical or religious reasons that prohibit immunization.
Many universities across the U.S., following varied reopening plans, have struggled to return students to their campuses during the pandemic. Some institutions have been forced to crack down on off-campus gatherings and events that have caused outbreaks in the surrounding community.
“From the onset of the pandemic, the safety of the broader Rutgers community has been our shared responsibility. This has never been more true,” Holloway said in the statement. “The importance of an effective vaccination program to make our community safer for all cannot be overstated.”
Requiring students to get vaccinated against the disease will allow Rutgers to resume a wide-range of activities and will allow for an “expedited return to pre-pandemic normal,” the statement said. Widespread vaccination means the university can offer more face-to-face instruction, as well as expanded dining and recreation options.
The decision was partly based on President Joe Biden’s estimation that every American will have access to a vaccine by the end of May.
A number of states have said they will open vaccine eligibility to all adults in the coming weeks, ahead of Biden’s May 1 deadline for states to broaden eligibility to all eligible residents.
New Jersey officials have approved the New Brunswick-based university to begin administering vaccines to students and faculty once more doses are available, the statement said. However, the university “urges all members of its community currently eligible to receive a vaccine not to wait” and to get vaccinated “as soon as possible” since the state hasn’t provided the supply yet.
