June 06, 2021
Thom Carroll/For PhillyVoice
Fully vaccinated students and employees will not need to wear face masks, be regularly tested for COVID-19 or self-isolate, Villanova University said.
Villanova University has become the latest college in the Philly region to mandate its students, faculty and staff to receive a COVID-19 vaccine ahead of the 2021-22 academic year.
All students and employees will have to be fully vaccinated by Aug. 1 before returning to campus in the fall, President Rev. Peter Donohue said this week.
Students, faculty and staff will need to provide vaccine documentation to the school. International students who are unable to meet the mandate will be able to receive a COVID-19 vaccine once they are back on campus this fall. Vaccine exemptions will only be granted for medical or religious reasons.
Fully vaccinated students and employees will not need to wear face masks, be regularly tested for COVID-19 or self-isolate, the university said. Those who receive COVID-19 vaccine exemptions will be required to continue following the school's COVID-19 health and safety protocols.
Mandating all students and employees to be fully vaccinated will help the university "return to a more typical, on-campus experience" and possibly lift most of its COVID-19 mitigation efforts, Donohue said.
"Requiring the vaccine allows for in-person instruction, a full slate of extracurricular and service-related activities, residence and dining halls at full occupancy, and many more of the typical Villanova experiences can resume," Donohue said.
Other local schools that are requiring their students to receive a COVID-19 vaccine ahead of the fall semester include Penn and Drexel, as well as Rutgers, Rowan, Stockton, Lehigh and Princeton.
Penn and Rowan are among the colleges in the Philly region that are also mandating their employees to be fully vaccinated before returning to campus in the fall.
The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission issued updated guidance last week saying that employers could mandate workers be vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to return to the office.
But any COVID-19 vaccine mandate must comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Civil Rights Act, the agency said, citing that the ADA requires businesses to keep some health information confidential.
The EEOC also said that employers are permitted to offer incentives for their employees to get vaccinated, as long as they aren't coercive.
Penn Medicine said last month that it is requiring all health system employees and clinical staff to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by Sept. 1.
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