COVID-19 Update: Intent to Require Vaccination (current students)

This message was sent to current students. A separate version was sent to the incoming undergraduate Class of 2025.

This message is sent on behalf of President Nathan O. Hatch, Provost Rogan Kersh and Vice President for Campus Life Penny Rue.

Bottom Line Up Front:

Dear Wake Forest students,

Your continued diligence in following public health guidance, your adherence to University policies, and your efforts to get vaccinated have helped to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. We are grateful for your partnership and the sacrifices you have made to help keep each other and our surrounding community safe.

Looking ahead to the Fall 2021 semester, we are encouraged by mounting evidence regarding the effectiveness of the COVID-19 vaccines to reduce the spread of infection and to prevent serious illness. Widespread vaccination is the path toward a more normal and vibrant campus life. To that end:

Wake Forest intends to require that all students be fully vaccinated before beginning Fall Semester classes. All students (undergraduate, graduate and professional school) enrolled in classes or participating in in-person activities on any of our campuses and in study abroad/away locations during the Fall 2021 Semester should provide documentation of an FDA-authorized (Emergency Use or fully licensed) vaccination by July 1, 2021.

The University will assist students needing to receive a COVID-19 vaccine if they have been unable to obtain the vaccine in their home states or are an international student who may have received a vaccine not authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Wake Forest will review requests for medical and religious exemptions, as we do for other required vaccinations; however, exemptions will not apply to students studying abroad on Wake Forest-sponsored programs and Affiliate programs.

Information concerning how to submit a request for a medical or religious exemption can be found on the Student Health Service website.

The North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services has a video library that helps understand the science and safety of the COVID-19 vaccines. You do not need to wait 90 days after infection to get vaccinated. It is safe and advisable to get vaccinated once released from isolation. Vaccination provides greater protection against variants than antibodies from prior infection.

We encourage every student to get vaccinated and upload documentation to the Student Health Service as soon as possible. Please note that prior indication of vaccination status through SneezSafe is not sufficient documentation.

Accurate accounting for vaccination status is critical to the University’s planning for the fall. Getting vaccinated begins the journey toward restoring the intimate Wake Forest experience we cherish and is one more way we live our motto of Pro Humanitate.

Sincerely,

Nathan O. Hatch
President

Rogan Kersh
Provost

Penny Rue
Vice President for Campus Life