The University of California announced Thursday that all of its campuses ― including UCSB ― will require students, faculty, and on-campus personnel to be vaccinated for COVID-19 before in-person fall instruction begins, barring approved exemptions.
In previous proposals , the UC had said it would wait for full FDA approval before mandating vaccinations. Now, the UC has become one of only a few public university systems in the U.S. to impose the mandate, citing additional medical studies that further documented the vaccines’ safety.
Students and faculty can apply for exemptions for medical, disability, or religious reasons, and defer the requirement because of pregnancy, the new policy states . Unvaccinated individuals without an approved exemption or deferral will not be allowed on campus or into any of its facilities, including housing.