There is no longer a requirement for staff and students to be vaccinated against COVID-19 at Nova Southeastern University. This comes after Governor DeSantis signed an executive order that bans businesses from requiring vaccinations and vaccine passports. Last month, the university said it would require all students and staff to be vaccinated when they return.
However, the university rescinded that requirement, Wednesday, citing the new Florida law, which goes into effect in July, that only permits purely voluntary vaccine programs.
Harvard is one of many institutions requiring vaccination in order for students to return to campus.
An expanding list of U.S. colleges and universities say students must have received a COVID-19 vaccine before arriving on campus this fall. So far, most of the institutions that have announced the new mandate are private, with schools like Cornell University and Duke University paving the way. Many other universities, public and private, are waiting to determine the legality of such a mandate.
Most colleges already require on-campus students to be vaccinated against viral diseases like measles, mumps, and rubella. Government agencies suggest that schools may similarly require the new COVID-19 shot. But some state lawmakers — and at least two lawsuits — argue that inoculation can’t be made mandatory while the vaccines are still categorized as “emergency use only.”
Medical exemptions are guaranteed by law in all states, and religious exemptions, which are relatively easy to receive, are permitted by most. To reinforce the mandate, colleges could push unvaccinated students to enroll online instead.
If allowed on campus, unvaccinated students will likely be required to continue asymptomatic testing and could be excluded from activities like studying abroad.
Click here for a list of colleges and universities that are requiring a COVID vaccine to attend class this fall.
If allowed on campus, unvaccinated students will likely be required to continue asymptomatic testing and could be excluded from activities like studying abroad.