Vanderbilt University is taking part in the COVID-19 College Vaccine Challenge, which was recently launched by the White House to increase vaccine access and distribution among students and their communities.
The COVID-19 College Challenge is part of a broader effort to achieve a 70 percent COVID vaccination rate for adult Americans by Independence Day.
“A return to Vanderbilt’s vibrant campus life, including our signature residential college experience, requires our entire university community to continue to follow health and safety precautions, including COVID-19 vaccinations,” Chancellor Daniel Diermeier said. “That is why we are pleased to join with many of our peers in this national push to boost the vaccination rate for college students.”
As part of the college challenge, Vanderbilt has committed to three key actions:
- Ensure every student, faculty and staff member knows they are vaccine-eligible and has the ability to find a vaccine distribution site. Vanderbilt leadership has put a priority on posting health and safety-related updates on its health and safety protocols website and other university channels.
- Organize the campus community by identifying vaccine advocates on campus and create a plan to get as many campus community members vaccinated as possible. Many individuals in the Vanderbilt community, including university leaders, department managers, testing coordinators and members of a student-led group called Vanderbilt Initiative for Public Health, have become unofficial vaccine advocates, speaking out frequently on the benefits of being vaccinated.
- Deliver vaccine access for all campus community members by making it as easy as possible to obtain vaccine shots on or near campus. The university has been hosting free walk-up vaccine clinics for faculty, staff and postdoctoral fellows and held earlier ones during the spring semester that targeted students on campus.
Vanderbilt’s vaccination requirement
To keep the Vanderbilt community as safe as possible and help ensure the ability to continue to conduct in-person teaching and learning, all students, faculty, staff and postdoctoral fellows will be required to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 for the 2021–22 academic year.
More information on the COVID-19 College Vaccine Challenge can be found on the White House website.