Miami University officials announced Wednesday that less than 10% of students and employees have requested exemptions to the school's COVID-19 vaccine mandate, which went into effect on Monday.
Nearly 92% of students and more than 80% of employees on Miami's Oxford campus have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine, officials said. The student vaccination rate at Miami's regional campuses is at 78%.
Exemption forms, which were due on Oct. 15, are still being reviewed and processed. The university said it would grant exemptions for medical reasons, "sincerely held" religious beliefs or for "reasons of conscience," including philosophical or ethical reasons.
"The employees and students who are not vaccinated are either exempted, awaiting exemption decisions, or have not yet submitted their documentation to meet the vaccine requirement," university spokesperson Jessica Rivinius told The Enquirer.
Students who requested an exemption had to first complete a 10-15 minute educational module about 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 at Miami,” Miami vice president for student life Jayne Brownell said in a Wednesday news release. “Miami’s COVID-19 rates remain low and we have not seen any serious outbreaks among students, faculty or staff.”
The university is conducting surveillance testing of unvaccinated students on its Oxford campus. Positive COVID-19 rates tracked through the university have remained consistently low, officials said, at around 0 to 0.5%.
According to the updated dashboard on Miami's website, there have been 15 positive student cases and nine positive employee cases in the last two weeks.
Most local colleges and universities – including the University of Cincinnati, Xavier University and Mount St. Joseph University – have imposed COVID-19 vaccine mandates this fall, and many said they will not allow students back on campus in the spring if they don't comply.
More: COVID-19: What workers, students face as vaccine mandates take hold around Cincinnati
Unvaccinated individuals at Miami with approved exemptions must submit to regular COVID-19 testing, quarantine for 10 days if exposed to the virus and could possibly be excluded from campus facilities and activities if there is an outbreak at the university, according to the policy.
Students who have not yet met the requirement have a "provisional hold" on their university accounts, Rivinius said. They can still register for classes with the hold, but after Nov. 12 they will not be able to register for spring courses and "may be subject to cancellation of their spring class schedule."
Employees who have not yet been vaccinated are not eligible to receive a $500 gratitude bonus or two days of bonus leave, Rivinius said. Those who still do not meet the requirement by Nov. 22 "may face disciplinary action."
"However we do not anticipate a large number of people refusing to comply given the positive feedback we received as we met with faculty, staff, and student groups about the possibility of a vaccine requirement," Rivinius told The Enquirer.
On top of the mandate, the university launched a social media campaign to encourage vaccination among students and staff. It included video messages from various celebrities, including "The Office" actor Brian Baumgartner, Jaleel White who played Steve Urkel in the family sitcom "Family Matters," and "Black-ish" television star Anthony Anderson.
Cincinnati Public Schools is the only other local institution to offer details on how its vaccine mandate affected employee or student retention. Ohio's third-largest school district was the first in the state to implement a vaccine mandate for staff, and in mid-October announced more than 400 employees had received the shot since the requirement was announced. The district said it is at a 99.99% compliance rate with the vaccine policy.
"I want to thank our incredible staff for prioritizing safety and helping keep our classrooms open in person," interim superintendent Tianay Amat said.
Other employers in the region have stayed quiet regarding the impact of their own vaccine requirements, including some Cincinnati-area hospitals that required tens of thousands of employees and volunteers to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
Miami community members who just received one dose by the Monday deadline will need to submit proof of having received their second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine by Nov. 22.
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