On Monday (April 19), the Atlanta University Center Consortium (AUCC) announced students will be required to get the COVID-19 vaccines for the upcoming fall semester. According to a report by 11 Alive News, the vaccine requirement would extend to faculty and staff members who plan to return to campus.
The AUCC includes Morehouse College, Spelman College, Clark Atlanta University, and the AUC Robert W. Woodruff Library.
The schools are working to establish exemption guidelines for the vaccine requirement and those exemptions could vary across the schools.
“We continue to operate with the safety and well-being of our AUCC community at the forefront of our decision making,” the AUCC said in a statement.
The AUCC Student Health and Wellness Center also announced students will have the opportunity to get the vaccine there. Each of the schools will also offer COVID-19 vaccine appointments.
“We take pride in our community, which rallied over the last year to maintain a safe environment for teaching and learning,” the AUCC said. “We will continue our strong AUCC partnership as we administer vaccinations in our campus communities and beyond to prioritize and sustain safety in our environment, which will support the excellent outcomes of our invaluable institutions.”
For a student to be “fully vaccinated” in accordance with AUCC guidelines, two weeks would have to pass from a single-dose vaccine or after the second dose of a two-shot vaccine.
The Morehouse School of Medicine was one of four historically Black medical schools that received funding to expand vaccine outreach in Black communities.
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