The University of Notre Dame will require its students to receive the coronavirus vaccine as a condition of enrollment in the fall of this year.
As many states announce they will be ready to vaccinate the majority of adults in the coming weeks, several universities are beginning to add the shot as a mandate for all students. The prestigious Catholic school made the announcement on Wednesday, specifying that exceptions would be made for those with “documented medical or religious exemptions.”
“The safety of the university and local communities is always our highest priority,” Notre Dame President John I. Jenkins said. “Requiring students to be vaccinated for COVID-19 is a new and important addition to our health policies, one that we believe will enhance public health at Notre Dame and in our community, while also contributing to our ability to return to a more vibrant campus environment.”
On Thursday, the university will open a vaccine clinic where the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine will be made available to students. In its announcement, the university clarified that students are currently required to be immunized with vaccines for hepatitis B, meningitis, measles, mumps, rubella, tetanus, chickenpox, and the flu, with religious and medical exemptions.
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Notre Dame has over 8,700 undergraduate students and nearly 4,000 graduate and professional studies students currently enrolled.
Schools including Rutgers University, Cornell University, Brown University, and Northeastern University have also announced similar requirements.
Over 108 million people have received at least one dose of the vaccine in the United States, according to data collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 63 million people in the U.S. have been fully vaccinated. On Tuesday, President Joe Biden urged states to make every adult in the U.S. eligible to receive the vaccine by April 19.
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The Washington Examiner contacted the university and its student union for more information but did not immediately receive a response.
