UC Merced among California schools planning to require COVID vaccinations by fall

California State University and the University of California announced on April 22 that the COVID-19 vaccine will be required of anyone on campus as soon as the shots are fully approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The university systems said in a news release the April 22 announcement was made to give students, faculty, academic appointees and staff ample time to obtain the vaccine ahead of the fall term.

Faculty, staff, and students who are accessing campus facilities will be required to be immunized “upon full approval of one or more vaccines by the (FDA), as well as adequate availability of the fully approved vaccines.”

“Together, the CSU and UC enroll and employ more than one million students and employees across 33 major university campuses, so this is the most comprehensive and consequential university plan for COVID-19 vaccines in the country,” said CSU Chancellor Joseph I. Castro.

“Receiving a vaccine for the virus that causes COVID-19 is a key step people can take to protect themselves, their friends and family, and our campus communities while helping bring the pandemic to an end,” said UC President Michael V. Drake in a release.

Students or employees can seek an exemption on medical or religious grounds, officials said.

Both the UC and CSU already have several immunization requirements, but university leaders had previously said they could not require vaccines that hadn’t received FDA approval. The FDA has only issued emergency use authorization for the COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic.

Other colleges in the county have begun to announce the same requirement for fall, including several in California.

This story was originally published April 22, 2021 at 3:18 PM.