Growing list of Maritime universities requiring students, staff to be fully vaccinated

HALIFAX -

The return to school for post-secondary students in our region is just around the corner, and for many, heading back to the classroom will require them to be fully vaccinated.

One of those schools is Saint Mary’s University in Halifax.

"We will require proof of vaccination for all faculty, staff and students coming to campus for fall 2021,” said Rob Summerby-Murray, the universities president.

Saint Mary’s University isn’t the only post-secondary institute in Nova Scotia requiring students and staff to be double-dosed.

Cape Breton University, Dalhousie University, Mount Saint Vincent University and the Nova Scotia Community College will also require people to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

"It's about the sense of reassurance to everybody that they can come to a safe learning environment for the fall, but it's also a sense that we as a university have responsibilities not only to ourselves as a community, but to the broader community around us here in Halifax, here in Nova Scotia,” said Summerby-Murray.

In New Brunswick, Universite de Moncton, Mount Allison University, St. Thomas University, the University of New Brunswick and New Brunswick Community College all plan to implement a mandatory vaccine program.

As does the University of Prince Edward Island.

"We see now a majority of universities and colleges bringing in some vaccine requirements that apply to everyone. Initially, there were a few places that said we'll have vaccine requirements, but just for students who are living in residents, just for those who are participating in sports, but now we're seeing those extend to the entire university and college community,” said David Robinson with the Canadian Association of University Teachers.

At this time, not all Maritime universities are making vaccines mandatory. St. Francis Xavier University, for example, has recently announced mandatory COVID-19 testing for their campus community.

Vaccination is also not required at Acadia University at this point.

"We've said it very clearly, we're expecting every member of our community who can be vaccinated, to be vaccinated and we're expecting anyone who can't be vaccinated to undertake regular testing,” said Acadia president Peter Ricketts.

Even without mandatory vaccines, Rickette’s believes there will be high numbers of fully vaccinated faculty, staff and students.