14 CommentsColumbia announced that faculty and staff need to get vaccinated by September 1, 2021, in preparation for the fall semester, according to an email sent earlier this morning by University Vice President Gerry Rosberg and University COVID Director Donna Lynne.
COVID-19 vaccination will be mandatory for all faculty and staff in preparation for the fall 2021 semester, according to an email announcement sent to staff earlier this morning from University Vice President Gerry Rosberg and University COVID Director Donna Lynne. The email can be found in its entirety below. This decision comes after the University’s announcement on April 19th that students will be required to receive a COVID-19 vaccine to access campus in the fall semester.
According to the email, faculty and staff must get vaccinated no later than September 1, 2021. Columbia is offering space for questions about this vaccination requirement at the next COVID-19 town hall meeting on Tuesday, May 18. Additionally, faculty and staff are reminded of their opportunity to access a vaccine at Lerner Hall or at another Columbia vaccine distribution location.
The vaccine mandate will be integrated into the Columbia Community Health Compact, which students, staff, and community members must sign to engage with campus buildings and campus life. Rosberg and Lynne indicate that they “appreciate” that “over the coming weeks and months some of these measures [the university’s testing program, use of face covering, and physical distancing] may be adjusted based on vaccination status and guidance from the CDC and New York State.”
Email sent to staff from University VP Gerry Rosberg and University COVID Director Donna Lynne on May 14 at 11:46 am:
Dear colleagues:
On April 19th, we wrote to advise you of the University’s decision to mandate vaccination for students for the fall 2021 term. We are now writing to let you know that President Bollinger and the Columbia University COVID-19 Task Force have decided to make COVID-19 vaccination mandatory for all faculty and staff. Full vaccination is to be completed as soon as possible, but no later than September 1, 2021.
Information about the vaccination requirement can be found at this site, which will be updated in coming days as details are announced, including instructions on where and how to upload evidence of vaccination. The University will accept all vaccines that have received Emergency Use Authorization by the US Food and Drug Administration or the World Health Organization. The University will provide a mechanism whereby individuals can request a religious or medical exemption, as needed.
We will address questions about the vaccination requirement at the next of our regular series of town halls on COVID-19, vaccination and related issues, which is scheduled for Tuesday, May 18. For more information click here.
If you have not yet been vaccinated, you can find information about how to schedule a vaccine at Lerner Hall by clicking here; for other Columbia locations, by clicking here . We are providing vaccinations now and throughout the rest of the year. In addition, there are hundreds of New York City locations and thousands across New York State and the metropolitan area.
The rationale for expanding the vaccination mandate to include employees is to ensure that the health of Columbia affiliates and the broader University and surrounding community is preserved. We are fortunate to now have several vaccines with excellent efficacy and safety profiles. These vaccines bring further welcome protection from COVID-19. We anticipate that one or more of the three vaccines currently available under Emergency Use Authorization in the US will be given full approval by the FDA before the mandate’s effective date.
The vaccine mandate will be integrated into our Columbia Community Health Compact, an agreement all faculty, staff and students are required to sign in order to access campus facilities. It will be part of our COVID-19 prevention effort, which includes our testing program, use of face covering and physical distancing. We appreciate that over the coming weeks and months some of these measures may be adjusted based on vaccination status and guidance from the CDC and New York State.
Last fall, we asked you to “Keep the Compact,” and you did it. Despite tremendous hardship, Columbia has maintained its academic, research, service and clinical vitality throughout the current academic year. The availability of COVID-19 vaccines, combined with other preventive measures, will enable us to get much closer to our common goal: returning fully to in-person instruction this fall and restoring our vibrant campus life.
Sincerely,
Gerry Rosberg
Senior Executive Vice President
Donna Lynne
Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, CUIMC
University COVID Director
Butler via Bwog Archives
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14 Comments
@Anonymous moron. Try telling all the Columbia students who died of Covid last year that the disease “isn’t serious”.
@Anonymous Important:
“Students and employees may request an exemption from the vaccination requirement for specific medical or religious reasons.
Students wishing to request an exemption must submit the required request forms via the Columbia Health Patient Portal (Morningside) or CUIMC Student Health on Haven portal (CUIMC).
Employees wishing to request an exemption must submit the required request forms which will be available on June 1 on the COVID-19 website.
Students must submit their exemption request at least 30 business days before their first planned campus access. Late submissions will not be expedited. Employees are encouraged to submit their exemption requests as soon as possible.”
@Solidarity I will not get the vaccine until every BIPOC is vaccinated. It is immoral for me as a white person to use my privilege to skip the line when there are those who are more deserving that should be served first.
@Anonymous There is no religion that says you should not get vaccinated. In fact every religious leader has encouraged vaccination. So using the “religion exemption” is a joke. I can see the very rare person who had some allergies, but other than that is is irresponsible.
@Anonymous Yesssss!
@Anonymous You know that is not accurate. We saw how this disease overwhelmed our health care system. Most faculty and staff are over 50. And since the vaccine is so little risk, what’s the big deal?
@Anonymous Why are you so afraid to get a life saving vaccine? Don’t you care enough about about your grandparents? You sound extremely selfish and self centered. Just because you are young and healthy you don’t care about anyone else?
@Anonymous If they experience negative side effects, can they sue the university? Seems like that would be fair. Let liability work both ways.
@Anonymous And if they infect someone or transmit the disease to someone or miss work, can the university sue them? If they are the source for closing a lab or a course or a research project, can the university sue them?
@Anonymous Not sure why you’re saying that anyone who thinks the vaccine should be mandatory is fat? There’s no correlation between weight and understanding the science.
Also, measles kills about 1-2 people for every 1,000 cases, according to the CDC, and Columbia still requires that vaccine (as it should). Not sure why everyone’s suddenly all pissed about the COVID-19 shot.
@Anonymous There are many vaccines that are required from public grade school on up. I am sure you have had measles, mumps, rubella, rubeola, chicken pox, hepatitis, tetanus, flu, pneumonia, meningitis, probably even HPV vaccine. Why are you crying about this one like a little wimp?
@Anonymous All employers should be permitted to sue their employees
@Anonymous OSHA states that any negative side effects are considered workplace injuries if employers require vaccines.
@Anonymous Great decision.