Indiana University Requiring COVID-19 Vaccination Shots

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) — Indiana University is requiring all students and employees to receive COVID-19 vaccinations for the fall semester and is threatening to cancel class registrations and fire staff members who don’t comply.

IU officials announced the requirement for its campuses across the state Friday, saying it will allow the university to lift most coronavirus-related restrictions such as face masks and physical distancing. The university says knowing that the vast majority students and employees are vaccinated is the only way it “can confidently return to in-person classes, more in-person events and a more typical university experience.”

All students, faculty and staff members should have their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine by July 1 in order to meet the university’s requirement. They will have to demonstrate that two weeks have passed since they’ve received the final vaccine dose by Aug. 15 or when they first return to campus.

The University of Notre Dame is ordering a similar vaccination requirement for students and employees before the fall semester.

Exemptions to the IU’s vaccination requirement will be limited, including medical exemptions and documented and significant religious exemptions, the university said.