The University will require that all employees and all students engaged in on-campus activities receive both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine by July 1, according to a May 20 letter sent to the Brown community by President Christina Paxson P’19.
The new requirements accelerate Brown’s initial timeline, which mandated that all students and staff be fully vaccinated by the fall semester in order to participate in on-campus activities. The University’s priority is to have “near-universal levels of vaccination — 90 percent or greater — in the Brown community,” Paxson wrote in her letter.
The July 1 deadline applies to all on-campus students — including those engaging in education, jobs and research — as well as all employees, including faculty, intermittent staff, postdoctoral scholars, visiting researchers and lecturers. Students currently away from campus but planning to return for the 2021-22 academic year must be vaccinated by this fall semester.
Any one of the three vaccines — Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson and Johnson — that have received Emergency Use Authorization by the Food and Drug Administration will satisfy the vaccine requirement, according to the FAQ page provided by the Healthy Brown website. Vaccines in the World Health Organization Emergency Use Listing also qualify.
Those with medical and religious exemptions to receiving the vaccine will be granted “reasonable accommodations,” according to the FAQ. Students who refuse to get vaccinated and do not qualify for exemption will be required to study remotely without access to Brown’s campus. For employees, requests for remote work will be channeled through the Alternative Work Assignment process. Refusal to get a vaccination, however, is not a valid criterion alone to be considered for an AWA, according to the FAQ page.
Currently, all individuals 12 years and older in Rhode Island are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine for free, regardless of insurance. The University is providing shuttle service for students to the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, where vaccinations are provided with no appointment required. This week, the University hosted its first on-site vaccine clinic offering first doses of the Moderna vaccine, The Herald previously reported. After receiving the vaccine, employees have been asked to verify their status before July 1 by uploading their vaccination card to Workday, while students should upload their vaccine cards to the Health and Wellness Portal.
Jared is a Senior Staff Writer for Science and Research. He is a senior from Albuquerque, New Mexico studying physiology and biotechnology. Outside of The Herald he likes to fish, ride bikes and research the role of metals in human health and disease.
