Miami University publishes results of COVID-19 vaccine mandate

Miami University officials announced on Wednesday that less than 10% of students and staff have requested exemptions from the school’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate, which went into effect Monday.

Nearly 92% of students and more than 80% of staff on the Oxford campus in Miami have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, officials said. The vaccination rate of students in the Miami regional locations is 78%.

Exemption forms due on October 15 are still being reviewed and processed. The university said it would allow exceptions on medical grounds, “sincere” religious beliefs, or “conscience”, including philosophical or ethical reasons.

“The staff and students who are not vaccinated are either exempted, waiting for exemption decisions or have not yet submitted their documents in order to meet the vaccination requirement,” said university spokeswoman Jessica Rivinius to The Enquirer.

Students applying for an exemption were first required to complete a 10-15-minute educational module on the effects of COVID-19, how vaccines work, the benefits of vaccination and the risks of not being vaccinated, officials said.

“Vaccination continues to be our best tool in the fight against COVID-19, and we are seeing the benefits in Miami,” said Jayne Brownell, vice president of Miami Student Life, in a press release Wednesday. “COVID-19 rates in Miami remain low and we have not seen any serious outbreaks among students, faculty, or staff.”

The university is conducting surveillance tests on unvaccinated students on its Oxford campus. Positive COVID-19 rates tracked by the university have remained consistently low, around 0-0.5%, according to officials.

According to the updated dashboard on the Miami website, there have been 15 positive cases from students and nine positive cases from employees in the past two weeks.

Most local colleges and universities – including the University of Cincinnati, Xavier University, and Mount St. Joseph University – put a COVID-19 vaccination mandate this fall, and many said they would not allow students back on campus in the spring if they don’t meet.

More: COVID-19: What Workers and Students Face When In Cincinnati. Enforce vaccine mandates

Unvaccinated individuals in Miami with approved exceptions must undergo regular COVID-19 tests, be quarantined for 10 days if exposed to the virus, and could potentially be banned from campus facilities and activities under the policy if at university comes to an outbreak.

Students who have not yet met the requirement will have a “temporary lock” on their university accounts, Rivinius said. They can still enroll for courses using the Hold, but after November 12th they will not be able to enroll for spring courses and “may be able to cancel their spring course schedule”.

Employees who have not yet been vaccinated are not eligible for a $ 500 gratitude bonus or two days of bonus vacation, Rivinius said. Anyone who still does not meet the requirements by November 22nd “could expect disciplinary action”.

“However, we do not expect large numbers of people to refuse to comply, given the positive feedback we received when we met with faculty, staff and student groups about the possibility of requesting a vaccine,” said Rivinius to The Enquirer.

In addition to this contract, the university started a social media campaign to promote vaccinations among students and employees. It featured video messages from various celebrities, including “The Office” actor Brian Baumgartner, Jaleel White, who played Steve Urkel on the family sitcom “Family Matters,” and “Black-ish” television star Anthony Anderson.

Cincinnati Public Schools is the only other local institution that provides details on how their vaccine mandate has affected employee or student retention. Ohio’s third largest school district was the first in the state to implement a vaccination mandate for staff, and announced in mid-October that more than 400 employees had received the vaccination since the request was announced. The district said it had 99.99% compliance with the vaccine policy.

“I would like to thank our incredible staff for making safety a priority and helping to keep our classrooms open personally,” said Interim Superintendent Tianay Amat.

Other employers in the area have remained silent about the impact of their own vaccine requirements, including some hospitals in the Cincinnati area that have had tens of thousands of employees and volunteers vaccinated against COVID-19.

Members of the Miami community who received only one dose by the Monday deadline must provide evidence by November 22 that they received their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.

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