BREAKING: Simmons announces a spring semester COVID-19 vaccine booster mandate for all campus-based employees and undergraduate and graduate students, according to an email from President Lynn Perry Wooten. 

The mandate includes any students or faculty who participate in on or off-campus in-person events, both curricular and extracurricular.

All applicable community members must be vaccinated by January 18, 2022, or within 14 days after they become eligible for the booster.

This mandate does not apply to students, faculty, and staff previously granted a religious or medical vaccine exemption. 

President Wooten wrote that more information will be sent via email regarding an on-campus clinic, spring semester COVID-19 testing, and how to submit proof of vaccine booster in the coming days.

On December 15, Massachusetts’ seven-day COVID positivity rate was 5.18% according to the state’s Department of Public Health. The CDC reports that Massachusetts has a “high” rate of community transmission of COVID.