University of Washington to require students get COVID-19 vaccine

University of Washington students will be required to get the COVID-19 vaccine by the start of the next academic year, officials announced Monday.

The announcement comes as state officials urge people to get vaccinated as soon as they can, calling the vaccines a key tool to stopping the spread of the virus and keeping the community safe.

“Widespread vaccination is the only real way we can put the COVID-19 pandemic behind us and return to a more normal way of living, learning and working,” UW President Ana Mari Cauce wrote in a message to students, faculty, academic personnel and staff. "Fortunately, vaccines are now readily available that have proven safe and highly effective, including through clinical trials in which our own faculty collaborated and during real-world experience."

All students on all three of UW's campuses will have to get the vaccine. Students will need to show they have received the vaccine before the start of the fall quarter, "unless they are claiming a medical, religious or philosophical exemption," Cauce wrote in the message. UW will also allow students to get vaccinated when they arrive on campus if they can't get one elsewhere.

"FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccines are based on technology that has been under development for more than 20 years and is being used now to stop this deadly virus. But a vaccine can do no good if it stays in a vial — it takes each of us to make the decision that I and hundreds of millions more have made to get vaccinated," the letter said.

“Our community is one that cares — about each other and about the state and society we serve. For your health, and for the health of us all, please get vaccinated as soon as you can.”

The university has not yet made an announcement on whether faculty and staff will have to get vaccinated.

Several other colleges across Washington and the U.S. have already announced plans to mandate the vaccine for students, including Seattle University and Washington State University.

So far across Washington, about 42.5% of adults have received at least one dose of the vaccine and nearly 30% are fully vaccinated. That means still about 70% of adults are not yet fully protected from the virus.

The state for months had been struggling with a limited vaccine supply, but in recent days, there have been thousands of open appointments in Seattle, King County and across the state. Many clinics in the area are now allowing people to walk in without having to make appointments in advance -- a move officials hope will make it even more convenient for people to go in to get the shots.

Clinics are also working to expand hours to weekends and evenings, to serve people who work during the day or are unable to come in during traditional hours for another reason.

Until more people are fully vaccinated, people need to continue to wear masks, socially distance, avoid large gatherings and opt for outdoor get togethers -- especially as cases and hospitalizations continue to increase across the state. The state is facing an even more "dangerous threat" as new variants thought to be more infectious become the dominant strains in Washington, officials said last week.

"We have simultaneously a new weapon in the fight against this pandemic, mainly this incredibly safe and effective vaccine. Simultaneously we have effectively a new threat, a more powerful and dangerous threat," Inslee said during a news conference last week. "And that's what I think we can call COVID 2.0. This is not your grandmother's COVID."