BAR HARBOR, Maine — College of the Atlantic (COA) announced in a release Thursday that it is requiring all staff, faculty, and students who plan to be on campus during the 2021-22 academic year to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
COA previously announced that they would wait until the U.S. Food and Drug Administration made their use authorizations permanent for the vaccines, as opposed to the emergency use authorizations currently allotted, but has now joined other colleges and health systems in the state in making the vaccine mandatory.
“Having a fully vaccinated population on campus, with the rare medical or religious exemption, is essential to ensuring an optimal learning and living environment during these times,” COA President Darron Collins said in Thursday's release. “With changing assumptions around COVID-19 because of the Delta variant, our evolving legal understanding, and the need for clarity in planning, this is a decision that we can no longer wait on.”
The school, which opens its fall trimester on Friday, Sept. 10, is allowing for documented, approved religious and medical exemptions, according to COA communications director Rob Levin.
Levin said students are required to submit proof of vaccination or apply for an exemption by August 13.
Anyone on campus during the 2021-22 academic year who is not vaccinated will be required to wear a mask at all times when indoors in shared air spaces, except when in their personal residence or private office, according to Levin. He said most of the campus will likely be open to invited guests only.
Levin also said school officials are working closely with some international students and others who may have trouble accessing the vaccine, and that these students will be able to begin their vaccination process once they arrive, and will be accommodated to ensure they can access course materials remotely for the beginning of the school year.
The school will conduct baseline testing as various cohorts of students arrive, beginning later this month. Levin said that all members of the COA community will be required to wear masks indoors, other than private offices and personal residences, from the time they arrive on campus until baseline testing is completed.
