As the proof of vaccination deadline passed Friday at the University of Guelph, the school was reporting a 97 per cent fully-vaccinated rate among faculty, staff, students and contractors who have submitted their proof of vaccination or an approved vaccination exemption request.
The U of G was reporting a total of 27,959 completed submissions as of Friday, with 27,146 (97 per cent) reporting a full vaccination status, 523 (two per cent) reporting a single dose and 290 (one per cent) having requested exemptions that have been approved or submitted.
"Giving you a precise number of how many people have yet to report their status is difficult because the overall number of people who must comply with the vaccine mandate currently is different from the overall size of the U of G community," said Deirdre Healey, communications coordinator at the U of G.
"This is because the vaccine mandate applies to all U of G faculty, staff and students who are working or attending classes on campus. Students enrolled in distance education courses or remote courses and who are not physically coming to campus, and faculty and staff who are working 100 per cent remotely, do not need to comply until they return to campus. However, many people in this latter category are submitting proof now anyway. "
As an idea of compliance levels, the Guelph campus has about 24,000 students and the Ridgetown campus 500, and overall, the university has about 3,000 part- and full-time staff and about 820 faculty.
Students, faculty and staff who have been granted an exemption based on medical grounds or one protected under the Ontario Human Rights Code must participate in rapid COVID testing.
The vaccine mandate pertains to people who are physically coming to campus, and either proof of the vaccination or a medical exemption is required in order to access the U of G campuses and university-managed facilities
Students taking face-to-face courses must provide proof of vaccination by the deadline or they will be de-registered. Students will be required to switch from in-person to remote learning.
There will be no appeal process.
“Students who have received one dose of a vaccine by the Oct. 15 deadline and have a follow-up dose scheduled will be allowed to remain enrolled but must participate in rapid testing to come to campus until they are fully vaccinated,” said Healey.
Students who will be deregistered will be notified via email.
U of G employees not in compliance with the mandate and who are required to perform their job duties on-site will be placed on unpaid leave for the time they are expected to work on-site until they comply with the mandatory vaccination requirements.
All those vaccinated in Ontario were required to download their vaccine receipts from the Government of Ontario website and submit them through the U of G collection portal.
Those vaccinated outside Ontario were required to upload English documentation with the date the vaccines were administered, the country/location in which the vaccines were administered and the name of the vaccines administered.
The U of G announced on Aug. 12 that it would be mandating COVID-19 vaccinations.
The mandatory vaccination policy went into effect on Sept. 7, and is expected to stay in effect until at least Sept. 7, 2022.
The vaccine mandate extends to all campus visitors over the age of 12 must be vaccinated against COVID-19 to access U of G campuses and managed facilities.
According to the university, full vaccination will be required for those coming to our campuses and facilities in the winter semester.
