Graphic by Mairead Brogan (made with Canva)
On Tuesday, Jan. 11, Chief Operating Officer Patrick O’Rourke and Executive Vice Provost for Academic Resource Management Ann Schmiesing announced that the University of Colorado Boulder would begin mandating COVID-19 booster vaccinations.
The announcement, which was sent out in a campus-wide email, said that a booster shoot or exemption would be mandated for “members of the campus community.”
“Vaccinations continue to provide the best defense against serious illness and hospitalization––and boosters provide significant additional protection for all of us, according to our own researchers and scientists and other public health experts,” the message read.
The mandate comes after the university previously announced it would move to remote instruction for the first two weeks of the spring semester and a spike in COVID-19 cases in Boulder County.
Community members must submit proof of receiving a booster vaccination, or an exemption request, by February 24 or five months after the last dose from their first set of vaccinations. That information will be accepted on the MyCUHealth website.
The university will accept “medical, ethical or moral” exemptions that will also fulfill this new requirement.
Those with questions on the new mandate can attend a Q&A session on Wednesday, Jan. 12, at 10 a.m. Campus leaders will also provide updates on fire recovery and the university’s remote start.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
Contact CU Independent Managing Editor Henry Larson at henry.larson@colorado.edu.
