Michigan's Oakland University announced Monday that those students living on campus next year will now be required to be vaccinated against the coronavirus.

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According to their website, the mandate is being put in place "in order to ensure the health and safety of every student resident, students living on campus in residence halls, apartments and cottages". It goes on to say that students  must be vaccinated prior to fall move in on Friday, August 27th and that exceptions will be made for students who seek a religious or medical exemption.

Oakland University is offering several options for vaccinations right on campus to assure those in the OU community have the chance to be vaccinated. Starting Wednesday, vaccinations will be widely available on campus all students, faculty and staff. Information for scheduling can be found here. 

According to the Detroit News, Oakland is believed to be the first public university in Michigan to require vaccination. Daniel Hurley, CEO of the Michigan Association of State Universities. does not expected to be the last either.

"I am quite confident it will not be the last," Hurley told the Detroit News. "The universities are monitoring the (virus) conditions and this particular question is one being discussed constantly."

Hurley did mention that universities and colleges are encouraging students to get vaccinated, but believes  mandates will be more for certain subgroups of students be vaccinated, such as athletes, students taking classes or living on campus and students working in medical settings.

The Detroit News noted that other colleges across the country are starting to issue similar mandates with Rutgers University in New Jersey is thought to be the first to require that all students be vaccinated.

LOOK: Answers to 30 common COVID-19 vaccine questions

While much is still unknown about the coronavirus and the future, what is known is that the currently available vaccines have gone through all three trial phases and are safe and effective. It will be necessary for as many Americans as possible to be vaccinated in order to finally return to some level of pre-pandemic normalcy, and hopefully these 30 answers provided here will help readers get vaccinated as soon they are able.

 

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