University of Minnesota to require COVID vaccinations for students once shots receive FDA approval

The University of Minnesota announced Monday it will require students to be vaccinated against COVID-19 once the shots receive full approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which is expected in the coming weeks.

The university's vaccination mandate, which must be approved by the Board of Regents, would apply to the roughly 60,000 students attending the U's five campuses. University faculty and staff must either get vaccinated or agree to be regularly tested for COVID-19.

"This will allow us the best chance to have normal campus activity this fall and uninterrupted in-person, on-campus instruction," U President Joan Gabel wrote in a message to students and employees Monday. "We understand that this is a challenging decision for our community, but our interests are first and foremost the health of our students, staff, and faculty."

The proposed mandate is a reversal from the university's previous stance to encourage, not require, COVID vaccinations.

And it comes after many U professors and staff criticized the university for requiring only masks but not vaccinations or regular COVID-19 testing.

Pending likely regent approval, the U will join hundreds of colleges nationwide, including about a dozen private colleges in Minnesota, that have implemented vaccination mandates.

Minnesota's other public college system, Minnesota State, is not requiring students at its 30 community colleges and seven universities to be vaccinated.

Many colleges and universities are planning for most classes and activities to be held in person.

Nearly 80% of fall classes at the U's flagship Twin Cities campus are slated to be taught in person, according to the university.

Regents will vote on the proposed mandate in the near future.

Regent Steve Sviggum, the board's vice chairman, said he and Chairman Ken Powell are "strongly in support" of the proposed mandate.

It is the best way to ensure students and employees are safe while classes operate in person, he said.

Regent James Farnsworth tweeted Monday that he, too, would vote in favor of the mandate, calling it a "reasonable policy shift."

While the U is planning to require the shots for students, it will offer employees the choice to be vaccinated or tested regularly.

U spokesman Chuck Tombarge said that is because "to date, the university has not required vaccinations as a condition of employment."

Students, however, have long been required to be vaccinated for tetanus, measles, mumps and rubella, Tombarge said, and the mandate for a licensed COVID-19 vaccine fits within that policy.

The university will share details about the vaccination requirement's deadline and grace period soon, Gabel said.

Fall classes at the Twin Cities campus start Sept. 7 and a two-dose vaccine series takes about a month to complete.

Michael Osterholm, director of the U's Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy and an adviser to Gabel, said the university will not allow students to be exempted from the vaccination requirement for personal reasons.

Exemptions will be allowed only for religious or medical reasons.

Minnesota's immunization law allows for exemptions based on personal beliefs, but because the statute does not address the COVID-19 vaccine specifically, U leaders opted to set their own exemptions.

"I very strongly support that," Osterholm said. "What we did not want to do is have a mandate that really didn't accomplish getting our students, staff and faculty vaccinated."

Twitter: @ryanfaircloth