CSU requiring COVID-19 vaccine boosters. What that means for Fresno State students, staff
All students, staff and faculty members on the Fresno State campus will be required to receive a COVID-19 booster shot in order to attend in-person instruction and activities, as part of a system-wide California State University policy announced Wednesday.
People must receive the mandated booster shots by February 28, 2022 or “six months after an individual received the final dose of the original vaccination, whichever is later,” in order to be considered fully vaccinated and allowed on campus during the Spring 2022 semester, according to a CSU statement. Individual campuses may choose to set earlier deadlines based on local conditions.
The booster shot requirement applies to the CSU’s 23 campuses. Some exemptions will be allowed for students and employees who claim medical and religious purposes. Unionized employees are not currently mandated to follow the booster mandate until the CSU “concludes the meet-and-confer process with its labor unions,” according to the statement.
Fresno State President Saúl Jiménez-Sandoval said the university “fully supports” the new policy, adding that it is important to “remain adaptable and proactive and continue to make decisions based upon the most up-to-date scientific data and analyses available.”
“As a campus community, we must once again take action to ensure the health and well-being of our students, faculty and staff by getting the vaccine booster,” he said in a statement Wednesday. “All students, faculty and staff who wish to access Fresno State’s campus will be required to get a booster.”
He said mandatory weekly testing will be required for all unvaccinated students and staff that have exemptions during the spring semester.
CSU Chancellor Joseph I. Castro said the new policy is “particularly important” due to the nationwide surge in COVID-19 cases spurred by the highly contagious Omicron variant.
“Vaccination, including a booster when eligible, remains our most effective strategy against infection and severe disease,” Castro said in a statement. “Implementing the booster requirement now will help mitigate the potential spread of the variant on campuses as they repopulate in January after the winter break.”
The University of California system also announced on Tuesday that boosters will be required for all students and staff on its 10 campuses in the coming semester.
The requirement comes as the Omicron variant rapidly spreads across the U.S. The variant now accounts for more than 70% of all recent COVID-19 cases across the country, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
As of Monday, Fresno County health officials reported just one confirmed Omicron case, though they expect many more have likely gone unreported. Health officials said the arrival of the variant, which was first detected in southern Africa, was fully anticipated and not unexpected.
Other measures to stop the spread of the new variant have also been implemented. A statewide mandate for residents to wear masks in indoor public spaces was issued Dec. 15 as rates of new cases began to rise following the Thanksgiving holiday.
As of Monday, about 54% of Fresno County’s total population of more than 1 million residents have received two doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, while 15% have also received a booster shot in the past few months. More than 405,000 residents in the county, or a little more than 39% of the total population, remain unvaccinated without a single dose.
People ages 5 and older are eligible for vaccines, and ages 16 and older are eligible for booster shots. To find out how and where to get vaccinated, visit the Fresno County Public Health Department website at www.fcdph.org/covid19vax, or the state’s MyTurn online vaccine registration site at myturn.ca.gov or calling 833-422-4255.
Fresno State will also hold free on-campus COVID-19 vaccination booster shot events for faculty and staff on Jan. 4 from 12p.m. to 2p.m.; Jan. 25 from 3p.m. to 7p.m. and Jan. 27 from 7a.m. to 10a.m. at North Gym 118.
The university will continue to require that students wear face coverings while indoors and that they complete a Daily Health Screening Questionnaire before arriving at the campus.
The first day of in-person instruction for the spring semester at Fresno State begins on Thursday, Jan. 20.
Michael McGough of The Sacramento Bee and Tim Sheehan of The Fresno Bee contributed to this report.
This story was originally published December 22, 2021 at 3:38 PM.