These Washington college campuses will require COVID vaccine for fall semester
As colleges in Washington prepare for the fall semester, some are considering whether to require students and staff to prove they have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
Washington State University announced Wednesday that students and faculty at all campus locations will need to be vaccinated if they plan to attend in-person classes or activities this fall, according to a statement from WSU President Kirk Schulz.
Staff other than faculty will also be required to be vaccinated. It is the first state school to announce a vaccine requirement.
“As the state’s land-grant university, [WSU] has an obligation to serve the public good and promote the health and safety of the communities it serves,” Schulz wrote. “In order to participate in any on‑site or in‑person courses and activities, students at all WSU locations will be expected to be vaccinated by the start of the fall semester.”
According to the letter:
Some programs may require participating students to prove vaccination earlier. Students who are fully online are exempt from the requirement and the university will also allow exemptions for medical, religious or personal reasons.
Students living in university-housing in Pullman must provide proof of COVID-19 vaccination by Aug. 6. Those who don’t live in university-housing and do not have program-specific requirements will need to prove they’ve been vaccinated by Nov. 1.
The university may modify housing assignments depending on a student’s exemptions.
“Students who fail to meet this requirement will be prevented from registering for spring semester courses and/or face other restrictions,” Schulz wrote.
Other state schools are still considering requiring proof of vaccination, including Eastern Washington University, Western Washington University and the University of Washington, although all of them “strongly encourage” students and employees to get vaccinated.
“Right now our energy is focused on making vaccines easily available to our students in the most convenient ways possible,” Victor Balta, a spokesperson for UW, said in an email to McClatchy News. “We expect to announce our approach to vaccine requirements by the end of May.”
Central Washington University’s website says that while it will not require students to prove they’ve been vaccinated, it is “strongly encouraging all students, faculty, and staff to become vaccinated for COVID-19 as soon as they are eligible.”
Other colleges across the nation, including Stanford and Yale, have announced they will require vaccinations going into the fall.
The Washington State Department of Health reported there are 370,861 cases of COVID-19 and 5,474 deaths as of Wednesday.
This story was originally published April 28, 2021 at 4:48 PM with the headline "These Washington college campuses will require COVID vaccine for fall semester."