William & Mary to require COVID vaccines for students, employees this fall

WILLIAMSBURG, Va. (WAVY) — All students, faculty and staff at William & Mary (W&M) will be required to have the COVID-19 vaccine before the fall semester starts.

“Vaccination is the single most important action we can take to protect ourselves and the people we care about from COVID-19,” said W&M President Katherine A. Rowe in an email. “Widespread vaccination is critical to allowing William & Mary to resume the in-person gatherings we know our community seeks.”

Previously, school officials said that vaccines would be required for those “students, faculty, and staff intending to participate in in-person activities in Fall 2021.” However, that policy has now expanded to everyone.

School officials say they will observe appropriate medical and religious exemptions, however, exemptions must be filed by August 10.

All students, faculty and staff are required to record the first vaccination dose in an online portal no later than August 10. The second dose must be uploaded to the portal no later than September 17.

International students are being asked to contact International Students, Scholars & Programs or email the COVID-19 Response Team for help getting a vaccine appointment if they do not have access in their home country.

Currently, 77% of students are fully vaccinated, as well as 75% of employees.

Those numbers have significantly increased in the past few days after school officials said they were considering reimposing COVID-19 measures due to low vaccination rates.

“Our success as a community depends on all of us, individually, taking action to ensure that we can convene together in a healthy way,” Rowe said.

For more information, visit W&M’s Path Forward site.