CSU campuses to require all to be vaccinated

All faculty, staff and students across the California State University system will have to be vaccinated against the coronavirus to go on campuses in the fall, officials announced Tuesday, though the system will allow for medical and religious exemptions.

The dates by which people must provide certification of vaccination will vary by campus because of differing academic calendars, according to a CSU statement, but every campus will require it before Oct. 1.

The news came two weeks after the University of California system announced it would also require COVID-19 vaccinations for students, faculty and staff on campus, with limited exceptions.

The California State University system first announced it would require COVID-19 vaccinations in April — but at the time, officials said the mandate would only be put in place if one of the vaccines received full approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The UC’s initial policy also required full FDA approval.

That still hasn’t happened; the agency has only granted each of the three available vaccines with emergency use authorizations.

The CSU’s Tuesday statement said the system was moving ahead with the requirement without full FDA approval “because of evolving circumstances.”

CSU Chancellor Joseph I. Castro cited the growth in cases as the delta variant, which is much more easily transmissible than other strains, continues spreading.

“The current surge in COVID cases due to the spread of the highly infectious delta variant is an alarming new factor that we must consider as we look to maintain the health and wellbeing of students, employees and visitors to our campuses this fall,” he said in a statement.

The CSU — based in Long Beach — boasts nearly 500,000 students across 23 universities, including in Los Angeles, San Bernardino and Fullerton.

Most campuses will offer more virtual courses than they did before the pandemic, which should provide increased flexibility for students who do not wish to be on campus. But “resource limitations do not allow for a campus’ or even a program’s full offerings to be made available virtually,” the CSU statement said.

The system will finalize its policy this week, said CSU spokeswoman Toni Molle. The policy will “suggest a framework” for implementing the requirement, Molle said, and each campus will develop its own plan based on that framework. Decisions on additional health measures, like masking or distancing requirements, will be left to individual campuses.

“Receiving a COVID vaccine continues to be the best way to mitigate the spread of the virus,” Castro said. “We urge all members of the CSU community to get vaccinated as soon as possible, and announcing this requirement now allows members of the CSU community to receive multiple doses of a vaccine as we head into the beginning of the fall term.”