The University of Virginia (UVA) has disenrolled 238 students for failing to comply with the school’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, according to reports.
The school’s policy requires all students who wish to live and study in person at UVA to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 during the 2021–2022 academic year.
University staff have repeatedly contacted students who haven’t submitted proof of vaccination to encourage them to get the shot or apply for an exemption, the UVA news service reported, adding that noncompliant students would be disenrolled.
So far, around 99.6 percent of UVA students have confirmed they are fully vaccinated, including 97.1 percent of students living in campus dorms, the UVA news service reported, while around 92 percent of the school’s academic staff are fully vaccinated, including 96 percent of teaching and research faculty.
Unvaccinated students, including those with approved exemptions, must mask up and undergo regular COVID-19 testing.
During a virtual town hall on Aug. 11, UVA leaders expressed hope that the school’s high vaccination rates would minimize the spread of the Delta variant.
“We are in a much better and much different position than we were last year, primarily because of the vaccines and the extraordinarily high vaccination rate in our community," UVA President Jim Ryan said.
“This means we can return in person to classes, activities, sporting events, and research labs as we have been planning to do in the fall semester, with the residential experiences that are at the heart of this university.”
Vaccine mandates have become a hot-button issue, with advocates arguing they’re needed to prevent overloading hospital resources and to help protect vulnerable people and those who can’t get the vaccine for medical reasons. Opponents tend to argue that mandates infringe on people’s right to make personal health decisions, that the emergency-use-authorized vaccines haven’t yet been fully approved by federal health authorities, along with concerns about side effects.