St. Lawrence College requiring COVID-19 vaccines for students, faculty to attend campus this fall

In this May 25, 2020, file photo, a lab technician extracts a portion of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate during testing at the Chula Vaccine Research Center, run by Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Sakchai Lalit

OTTAWA — Students and staff at St. Lawrence College will need to be fully vaccinated to step on campus this fall.

Less than four weeks before the start of the school year, St. Lawrence College announced that students and employees are required to have COVID-19 vaccinations to attend campus for the fall semester.

"As we look to September, the safety of our students and employees is our number one priority. While vaccination rates are rising, we must acknowledge the continued spread of the virus and its variants," said Glenn Vollebregt, SLC President and CEO.

"Guided by public health recommendations, to ensure SLC is a healthy, safe place to learn and work, SLC now requires students, employees, visitors, and contractors coming to an SLC campus to be fully vaccinated this fall."

St. Lawrence College will share details next week about a grace period and its process. The college does say students and employees must have their first dose by Orientation Day on Sept. 7.

The college will be hosting vaccine clinics later this month on each campus and in September. It has campuses in Kingston, Brockville and Cornwall.

The University of Ottawa announced Tuesday that COVID-19 vaccination will be mandatory for all students, staff, faculty and visitors to its campus. Anyone who will be on campus in the fall must have had at least one dose of a vaccine by Sept. 7 and must be fully vaccinated by Oct. 15.

Seneca College was the first post-secondary institution in Ontario to announce that all students and employees will need to be vaccinated against COVID-19 to attend in-person teaching, learning and working on campus.

The University of Toronto announced this week that anyone attending campus will be required to declare their vaccination status. Those who answer "no" or "prefer not to stay" will need to take rapid-screening tests twice a week.