WSU Spokesman Phil Weiler said the university decided in April to require vaccination for the fall semester.
The university announced it will discontinue an option to seek an exemption for personal reasons as soon as any of the three vaccines currently being distributed under emergency approval receives full approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
"We, back in April, decided that we were going to add the personal exemption and the reason was, quite frankly, because it was uncharted territory, legally," Weiler said. "We were the first university in the state to require vaccinations — there wasn't clear direction from the courts about what was going to be considered appropriate or inappropriate with regard to the vaccine."
Weiler said vaccination status for COVID-19 but also measles, mumps and rubella, is verifiable through student health records that can be accessed by its on-campus health care provider Cougar Health Services. He pointed out that even before the novel coronavirus sparked a global pandemic last year, those who did not share whether they had received the MMR vaccine would not have been able to register — and this is little different.
However, he said, there has always been an option to seek a standard medical and religious exemption for the MMR vaccine and that will carry through with COVID-19 though there will be changes that process ahead of the fall semester.
"We're going to require a little bit more information about what exactly is the need for your medical exemption, (or) give us more information about your religious beliefs and why vaccinations would be contrary to those deeply held beliefs," Weiler said.
Along with the announcement that personal exemptions would be eliminated, WSU also announced it would move up its deadline for when students must be vaccinated from Nov. 1 to Sept. 10. Weiler said students must have initiated the vaccination process by that time in order to attend classes.
He said this is largely because of the spread of the more contagious delta variant of COVID-19 driving surges in infections nationally and locally.
Other measures in the plan include requiring the unvaccinated to mask while on WSU property or attending WSU events, and strongly encouraging those who are vaccinated to wear masks as well. Weiler noted that even vaccinated individuals are capable of spreading the delta variant.
Testing and isolation space will continue to be made available to WSU students. COVID coordinators, who can help with implementation and education regarding new protocols, have been assigned to every unit across the WSU system.
Weiler said they will also strongly encourage students to stay home when they feel sick
"I think we have this tendency to think like 'I'm going to power through, I've just got a stuffy nose or a scratchy throat, but I've still got work to do,'" he said. "We're telling people, if you're feeling ill, for any reason, stay at home."
Up-to-date information on WSU COVID-19 protocol can be found at wsu.edu/covid-19/.
Jackson can be reached at (208) 883-4636, or by email to sjackson@dnews.com.
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