Rutgers University will require students returning to campus for the Fall semester to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before returning to classes, school officials announced in a press release Thursday. 

What You Need To Know

  • Rutgers University announced Thursday that it will require students to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before returning to on-campus classes this fall

  • The New Jersey school is among the first universities in the country to mandate vaccines for students returning to class

  • Faculty and staff are not required to get the vaccine, but the statement “strongly urged” they get their jabs as access across the state becomes more readily available 

  • Gov. Phil Murphy has set a goal of vaccinating 4.7 million New Jersey adults — or roughly 70% of the state’s population — by this July

 

The New Jersey school is among the first universities in the country to mandate vaccines for students returning to class. Faculty and staff are not required to get the vaccine, but the statement “strongly urged” they get their jabs as access across the state becomes more readily available. 

“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,” Rutgers President Jonathan Holloway wrote in the statement.

Students can request exemptions from the vaccine mandate for religious or medical reasons, Holloway noted. Those enrolled in fully-remote degree programs will not be required to get the vaccine. 

The announcement also encouraged Rutgers students under the age of 18 to get the Pfizer vaccine, the only domestically-approved COVID vaccine that’s safe for 16 and 17-year-olds. The Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are approved for use in people 18 years old and up.

Currently, many university students are likely ineligible to get the vaccine in New Jersey, as the state is still in its Phase 1B of vaccinations, which includes public safety workers, pre-k through high school educators and staff, and high-risk individuals. 

On March 29, the state will open vaccinations for a number of frontline professions, including those in the service industry, hospitality, eldercare, and social services. 

And on April 5, individuals aged 55-64, people 16 and over with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and those working in higher education, among others, will be eligible for a jab. 

While the state has not yet announced when vaccine eligibility will open to the general population, President Joe Biden issued a mandate in early March requiring states to drop vaccine requirements by May 1. 

On Friday, the administration announced that one of several new federally-supported vaccination sites will soon open in Newark, New Jersey, with the capacity to vaccinate roughly 42,000 people per week. The site’s opening, coupled with a dramatic increase in vaccine supply from the federal government, will likely speed up the state’s vaccination rate. 

“Ensuring vaccine equity by reaching deep into communities with higher risks of virus exposure and infection is among our highest priorities,” Governor Phil Murphy wrote in a statement. “By bringing a Federal Pilot Community Vaccination Center to New Jersey, we are one step closer to reaching our goal of vaccinating 4.7 million New Jersey adults in an efficient, effective, and equitable manner.” 

In December, Murphy set a goal of vaccinating 4.7 million New Jersey adults — roughly 70% of the state’s population — by this July.