A COVID-19 vaccination will be required for students at Rutgers University. The large New Jersey university announced on Thursday that every student enrolled in the fall 2021 semester must be vaccinated against the highly-transmissible, deadly disease.

"COVID's not going anywhere. It's going to be with us," said executive vice president and chief operating officer at Rutgers University Antonio Calcado. "And we're trying to build the safest campus in America. That's really what it comes down to. We want our students to be safe."

However, there will be some exceptions. Students may request an exemption for medical or religious reasons, the school said in its announcement. And students enrolled in online-only classes are also exempt from vaccinations.

Rutgers has a population of 71,000 undergraduate and graduate students.

"That's a cohort that's very highly interactive. It gets around a lot," said Calcado. "We keep our students safe. They go back to their extended families, their extended communities and there is a certain bubble that starts to be built around our entire region."

President Joe Biden's administration has said all Americans should be eligible for a vaccine by May 1.

Rutgers is one of the first public universities to require its students to be vaccinated for COVID-19. Calcado said the announcement gives families ample time get vaccinated if they choose to attend Rutgers.

MORE: https://globalnews.ca/news/7718106/astrazeneca-vaccine-new-us-data/

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