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COVID-19 vaccines now required for most college students in Colorado

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by Kyle Cooke • Published on
The first day of the 2020 fall semester at CU Boulder
Credit: Glenn Asakawa/University of Colorado
News | Rocky Mountain PBS

DENVER — Following the leads of Fort Lewis College, University of Denver, and Colorado College, the University of Colorado system announced April 28 it would require all students, faculty and staff to receive a COVID-19 vaccine before the 2021 fall semester. 

“This decision is good for public health, not only because it will lower rates of infection on our campuses, but also in the communities they call home. It will also allow students, faculty and staff to benefit from the on-campus experience that is critical to academic success and personal growth,” University of Colorado President Mark Kennedy said in a statement. “Several other Colorado institutions of higher education are joining us and making the same announcement today.”

A spokesperson for the university system said just as with other vaccines, students can apply for exemptions.

In the fall of 2020, just under 67,000 students were enrolled across CU’s four campuses, a majority of them in Boulder.

Around the same time Kennedy released his statement, the University of Northern Colorado and Metropolitan State University of Denver also announced they would require vaccinations, as did the Colorado State University System.

The series of announcements come just one day after Governor Jared Polis and the Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDPHE) issued a joint statement encouraging colleges and universities to require COVID-19 vaccines.

“With the recent uptick in cases and the rise in variants, we want to do what we can to protect the health and welfare of our students, faculty, staff, and communities,” said Dr. Angie Paccione, executive director of CDHE. “We strongly urge our students to get fully vaccinated and be prepared for in-person instruction and campus activities.”

Fort Lewis College was the first institution of higher learning in the state—and one of the first in the nation—to require a COVID-19 vaccine for the fall semester. 

Roughly 1.8 million Coloradans are fully vaccinated, but younger age groups are lagging behind, according to the latest data from the Colorado Department of Public Health an environment.

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