Processing Your Payment

Please do not leave this page until complete. This can take a few moments.

October 8, 2021

15% of community college students have non-medical vaccine exemptions

Cloe Poisson | CT Mirror Syringes filled with the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
By Adria Watson, CT Mirror

Nearly 15% of the students enrolled at Connecticut community colleges have received non-medical exemptions from the system’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, a rate that administrators suggested could be brought down with efforts to educate students about the vaccine.

Of the 37,116 students enrolled at the state’s community colleges this semester, 71% are fully or partially vaccinated; 5,479 or 15% have received non-medical exemptions and 12% have not yet reported their status.

Of the 22,698 who are studying on campus, 7,873 (79%) are fully or partially vaccinated, 2,030 (9%) have received non-medical exemptions and 2,423 (10.6%) have not yet reported their status.

At the four regional universities, roughly 80% of students are fully or partially vaccinated, and 8% of the overall enrolled students have received a non-medical exemption from the vaccine mandate.

At the community colleges, students attending courses in-person are required to fill out a form that asks them about their vaccination status and if they would like to request a medical or non-medical exemption. The CSCU system wanted to implement “a workable system that protects student data and prioritizes accessibility,” according to Leigh Appleby, the CSCU spokesperson.

“It has been successful this semester,” he said. “However, as President [Terrence] Cheng has noted, we continue to explore our options to drastically reduce or eliminate non-medical exemptions.”

Those who received non-medical exemptions have to comply with weekly surveillance testing, which is available at all 17 schools in the system at no cost to students.

Angelo Simoni Jr., dean of students at Manchester Community College and executive director for student relations and compliance at the system office, explained that one of the goals at their college is to try to educate students about the vaccine and encourage them to get vaccinated, especially as vaccines become approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

“It has been successful this semester,” he said. “However, as President [Terrence] Cheng has noted, we continue to explore our options to drastically reduce or eliminate non-medical exemptions.”

Those who received non-medical exemptions have to comply with weekly surveillance testing, which is available at all 17 schools in the system at no cost to students.

Angelo Simoni Jr., dean of students at Manchester Community College and executive director for student relations and compliance at the system office, explained that one of the goals at their college is to try to educate students about the vaccine and encourage them to get vaccinated, especially as vaccines become approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Sign up for Enews

Most Recent

Most Recent

0 Comments

Order a PDF