ROCHESTER, N.Y. — A heads up for students attending the University of Rochester this the fall: the school says all on-campus students enrolled for the upcoming academic year must get a COVID-19 vaccination.

“I love it,” said Lucia Parry, a graduate student at the University of Rochester. “I think that the only way we’re going to get back to somewhat normal interactions is by having the most people vaccinated that we possibly can.”

Starting August 2021, all on-campus students enrolled at the University of Rochester will have to get a COVID-19 vaccine.

UR says it made that decision after consulting with the coronavirus university restart team, health professionals, student leaders and university leadership.

The school believes it’s the best approach for limiting the spread of the virus and increasing in-person operations on campus. 

“I particularly am excited about this because I’ve been teaching this year, and it’s all been on Zoom, and it has been not as fun as in-person teaching and I am really looking forward to getting back into the classroom,” said Parry said.

The University of Rochester says students not vaccinated by August 1 will not be permitted on campus, but there are exceptions for those in the process of becoming fully vaccinated, or have been approved by the university for a medical or religious exemption.

“I mean, there’s a reason that polio isn’t around anymore, so I think their heart is in the right place, but at the end of the day I think that every individual is entitled to their own decisions,” Thomas O’Connor, a graduate student at University of Rochester, said.

The university says it will not offer remote learning to students who choose not to be vaccinated, and remote learning will only be dedicated to international students outside of the country.

“I’m vaccinated,” said O’Connor. “It should be an option to everybody, it shouldn’t be mandated.”

The university says it will make all efforts to provide the vaccine on campus to students agreeing to receive the shot.