Capital University announced Friday that they will require students, faculty and staff enrolled or employed for Spring semester 2022 to be vaccinated.
The private Bexley institution posted on its website that the decision to require vaccinations came because of the increase in Delta variant cases and hospitalizations. The university considered guidance from Franklin County Public Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as the FDA giving full approval of the Pfizer vaccine on Monday.
Capital University spokesperson Denise Russell said this was a decision they had been considering for a long time.
“Once the Delta variant numbers really started to rise, that’s when we decided we had to take a serious look at what was going on to protect the health of our faculty, students and our staff,” Russell said.
Those enrolled or employed for Capital’s Spring semester have until the end of Fall semester, December 17th, to complete a COVID shot sequence. That's approximately two weeks before the start of Spring semester, giving enough time for the vaccine to take full effect, Russell said.
Students who do not comply will not be allowed on Capital’s campuses and will be unenrolled from the University, according to the university’s COVID-19 Vaccination Policy document. Russell confirmed this new policy.
"Our students who are not vaccinated will not be allowed to take classes in the spring, starting in January, and we cannot have employees on campus who are not vaccinated either," she said, while adding that at this time, 75% of both their students and staff are vaccinated, as well as 82% of their full-time faculty.
Capital’s COVID-19 protocols website includes documents for those wishing to apply for medical or religious exemptions.
The announcement comes after Ohio State on Tuesday and Otterbein University on Thursday also announced vaccination requirements. Other private institutions requiring the shot include Kenyon College and Ohio Wesleyan University.
A spokesperson for Columbus State Community College confirmed Friday that they are not planning to require COVID-19 vaccinations at this time.
