Villanova University requiring students, faculty and staff to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19

The vaccine push is on across the Delaware Valley

Jennifer Joyce details the drive to vaccinate more people across Delaware, New Jersey and Pennsylvania

Villanova, Pa. - Villanova University announced that students, faculty and staff will be required to get the COVID-19 vaccine by August 1 to return to campus for the fall semester.

"As we look ahead to the fall semester, there is a new, more effective tool at our disposal. With the arrival of vaccines, health officials are lifting restrictions across the country as more people become vaccinated and some normalcy has been restored. At Villanova, I would also like to see a return to a more typical, on-campus experience, so I have made the decision to require that all students, faculty and staff be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by August 1, 2021," Villanova University President the Rev. Peter M. Donohue said in a letter.

The hope is that by requiring the vaccine most mitigation measures will be lifted at the university, according to Rev. Donohue.

"Requiring the vaccine allows for in-person instruction, a full slate of extracurricular and service-related activities, residence and dining halls at full occupancy, and many more of the typical Villanova experiences. It also allows us to significantly reduce many of the COVID mitigation measures—including testing and quarantine/isolation—that must be in place to ensure the safety of our community," he said.

The results of a vaccine survey taken at the end of the last semester indicated that the majority of the Villanova community is already vaccinated.

Rutgers University in late-March became the first school in the country to require the COVID-19 vaccine for students returning to campus for the fall semester.

Other New Jersey colleges have followed suit, including Fairleigh Dickinson University, Montclair State University, Princeton University, Stockton University and Rider University. Stevens Institute of Technology, located in Hoboken, has mandated the vaccine for all students and faculty.

Philadelphia-based colleges Drexel University and the University of Pennsylvania have also made the vaccine necessary for students who are expected to return to campus. Lehigh University has likewise mandated the COVID-19 vaccine.