The University of Vermont announced on Wednesday that it will require all students to receive a Covid-19 booster shot by Feb. 1.
With this change, UVM joins a growing number of universities in the region — and across the country — that have updated their Covid-19 vaccine requirements in recent weeks.
Dartmouth College announced last week it would require all students, faculty and staff to get boosted by Jan. 31. Earlier this month, Middlebury College instituted a similar booster requirement for students, faculty and staff with a Feb. 14 deadline.
In a recent online post about the booster requirements, Dartmouth leaders expressed concerns about the recent uptick in Covid-19 cases among college staff and asked that they “continue to be considerate in their interactions with one other, on campus and beyond.”
Dartmouth’s Covid-19 dashboard, which groups faculty and staff together in its public data, shows the college identified a cluster of at least four positive cases among employees Dec. 17. Faculty and staff comprised 21 out of Dartmouth’s 28 active Covid-19 cases as of Wednesday afternoon.
In addition to the added booster requirement, Dartmouth also announced other new Covid-19 restrictions Friday: All dining will be grab-and-go for the first two weeks of January, and all indoor social events are suspended through Jan.18.
In an email sent to the campus community Wednesday afternoon, Middlebury announced it would delay the start of winter term by four days, to Jan. 10. At least the first two days of classes are scheduled to be held remotely.
Middlebury also switched to online classes and exams two weeks ago after reporting a surge of more than 50 active Covid-19 cases on campus.
UVM’s booster policy differs from others in distinguishing between requirements for students and university employees.
“We are still in discussions about rolling out our policy for employees and expect that to be wrapped up fairly soon,” university spokesperson Joel Seligman said.
Ninety-five percent of UVM students are now eligible to get boosted, Michelle Paavola, medical director of UVM’s Center for Health and Wellbeing, said in a Tuesday press release.
That 95% figure refers to students who have surpassed the recommended waiting period to get boosted, Seligman said Wednesday afternoon. UVM does not have data on what percentage of students are boosted since it has not previously required students to report that information.
