Leadership for Duke University announced all students returning to its campus for the upcoming fall semester must have COVID-19 vaccinations before enrollment.

In a message to the campus community on Friday, Duke President Vincent E. Price shared an update to the university’s enrollment requirements, saying all new and returning students will need to present proof of vaccination to Student Health before approval to enroll for the fall 2021 semester. As the university continues offering vaccine appointments, he cited widespread vaccination as “the only way to facilitate a return to normal and robust campus life.”

“This policy will cover all undergraduate, graduate, and professional students — in all degree programs — who intend to be on the Duke campus for any period of time starting with the Fall 2021 semester,” wrote Price.

The Duke president said the university urges students and employees who have not yet received a vaccination to schedule an appointment, either through the university or a health care provider. Those with documented medical exceptions and religious exemptions will be accommodated, according to Price’s message.

The vaccination requirement comes both as North Carolina extends its vaccine eligibility rules to all remaining people and as colleges aim to pivot back to normal operations. Having suspended in-person instruction in spring 2020 at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in North Carolina, local universities like Duke and UNC scaled back campus operations and conducted classes remotely. Both schools returned limited amounts of students to campus this spring with public health guidelines in place and COVID-19 testing sites established. Since January, Duke reports having 862 positive cases among its campus community while UNC reports 581 positive cases.

UNC recently shared plans of a return to normal campus operations by mid-July, about a month before students return to campus in August. During the university’s summer session, most classes will remain remote with students living on campus continuing twice-weekly coronavirus testing.

To close his message to the Duke community, Price said the past 14 months have been some of the most difficult and “exhausting” in the university’s history.

“Under great stress, and often at great peril,” wrote the Duke president, “we have remained committed to each other — and to our missions of discovery, research, and patient care. Today, I ask you to join me in taking the next step toward ensuring the safety and vitality of our university community.”

The fall 2021 semester at Duke is set to begin Monday, August 23.

 

Photo via Duke Today/Duke University.

Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees. You can support local journalism and our mission to serve the community. Contribute today – every single dollar matters.

 

Related Stories
‹
UNC Health, Duke Introduce Walk-Up Appointments for COVID-19 Vaccines
As North Carolina continues aiming to improve COVID-19 vaccination rates, two of the largest healthcare systems in the Triangle region are offering new ways to get vaccine shots. UNC Health and Duke Health announced this week some of their clinic sites will now regularly accept walk-up appointments, a shift as the state progresses past the phased […]
U.S. Drop In Vaccine Demand Has Some Places Turning Down Doses
Written by LEAH WILLINGHAM, HEATHER HOLLINGSWORTH and MICHELLE R. SMITH Louisiana has stopped asking the federal government for its full allotment of COVID-19 vaccine. About three-quarters of Kansas counties have turned down new shipments of the vaccine at least once over the past month. And in Mississippi, officials asked the federal government to ship vials in […]
Official: Biden Moving Vaccine Eligibility Date To April 19
Written by DARLENE SUPERVILLE President Joe Biden was set to announce Tuesday that he is shaving about two weeks off his May 1 deadline for states to make all adults eligible for coronavirus vaccines. With states gradually expanding eligibility beyond such priority groups as older people and essential, front-line workers, the president plans to announce that […]
Founder of Prestigious UNC-Duke Scholarship Program Dies at 90
Julian Robertson, a billionaire hedge fund manager and the benefactor of a well-known scholarship program at Duke University and UNC, died on Tuesday. A spokesperson for Robertson told national media outlets the North Carolina native died in his New York home from “cardiac complications.” He was 90 years old. Initially from Salisbury, N.C., Robertson graduated […]
National Expert: Getting Kids Vaccinated Before School is 'Best Thing to Do'
Younger children are the age demographic that had the longest waits for COVID-19 vaccines to be approved. So far, their vaccination rates reflect that gap of time, but urgency around getting those initial doses has slowed to a crawl. With a new school year being just around the corner, though, federal health officials are saying […]
Officials: Millions of COVID-19 Shots Ordered for Youngest
Millions of COVID-19 vaccine doses have been ordered for small children in anticipation of possible federal authorization next week, White House officials say.
UNC Health Hits 500,000 Mark of Administered COVID-19 Vaccines
While COVID-19 vaccinations have drastically slowed in North Carolina, the UNC Health system across the state reached a milestone this week. The health care system shared a release on Friday saying its hospitals and clinics have now administered more than 500,000 coronavirus vaccine doses, reaching the mark in just more than one year of the […]
Vaccine Inequity Comes Into Stark Focus During UN Gathering
Written by PIA SARKAR The inequity of COVID-19 vaccine distribution will come into sharper focus Thursday as many of the African countries whose populations have little to no access to the life-saving shots step to the podium to speak at the U.N.’s annual meeting of world leaders. Already, the struggle to contain the coronavirus pandemic […]
Pfizer COVID-19 Shot Expanded to U.S. Children as Young as 12
Written by LAURAN NEERGAARD and CANDICE CHOI U.S. regulators on Monday expanded the use of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine to children as young as 12, offering a way to protect the nation’s adolescents before they head back to school in the fall and paving the way for them to return to more normal activities. Shots could begin […]
UNC Health, University Clinic Pause J&J Vaccinations on CDC Guidance
UNC Health and the UNC vaccination clinic on campus are both pausing their use of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine amid guidance from the federal and state governments. Both the statewide health care system and the Chapel Hill university issued statements Tuesday morning citing recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and the Food […]
›