Officials said nearly 90 percent of students and faculty are fully vaccinated, but hundreds of University community members had not complied with the Aug. 1 deadline to abide by GW’s vaccine mandate.
The announcement at Tuesday’s Faculty Senate meeting indicates that GW was short of attaining a COVID-19 vaccination rate between 98 to 99 percent. Roughly 2.2 percent of students and 0.7 percent of faculty received exemptions for medical or religious reasons, according to data provided at the meeting.
University spokesperson Timothy Pierce said officials will continue to accept vaccine documentation though the deadline to do so has passed.
“However, community members should be prepared for delays in their ability to participate in campus activities if they are late in submitting their information,” Pierce said in an email.
Senior Vice Provost Terry Murphy said that 6.3 percent of students and 8.3 percent of faculty were not compliant with the vaccine requirement as of late last week, accounting for more than 1,300 noncompliant professors and students. Students not in compliance with the mandate will not be permitted to move into their residence hall, she said.
She added that some students had not uploaded their documentation because they lost their vaccine card or didn’t have credentials to log in to the system.
Officials instituted a requirement in April for all students, faculty and staff to receive the COVID-19 vaccine before returning to campus this fall with “limited exceptions” for those with medical or religious exemptions.
“This is a tremendous accomplishment as the vaccine continues to be the best way to protect ourselves from the spread of COVID and the Delta variant,” interim provost Chris Bracey and other officials said in an email last week. “The vaccine, in combination with indoor mask-wearing, contributes to our layered approach to safely resume in-person teaching, learning and working this fall.”
University spokesperson Crystal Nosal said in July that unvaccinated people must have an approved exemption from the vaccine, continue to wear masks, undergo weekly COVID-19 testing and take daily symptom checks to maintain campus access during the school year.
