BREAKING: Simmons President announces COVID vaccine mandate for all faculty and staff working on-campus in the fall.

“Ensuring the health and safety of our community has been our top priority since the start of the pandemic,” wrote President Lynn Perry Wooten in an email to faculty and staff on Tuesday. “Our ability to achieve and maintain a vibrant on-campus living and learning experience is dependent on the rates of the COVID-19 infection staying low.”

Simmons will require all faculty and staff to be fully vaccinated by October 1, 2021. Unvaccinated employees will not be allowed on campus, wrote Wooten.

She advised those who have yet to get a COVID vaccine to do so by August 20. 

Wooten wrote that faculty with medical or religious reasons that prevent them from getting a COVID-19 vaccine can request an exemption through human resources. 

Simmons announced in April that all students need to be fully vaccinated against COVID before returning to campus in the fall. 

Massachusetts has reported over 680,000 total confirmed COVID cases as of August 8, 2021.