U of T students living in residence will have to be triple vaccinated against COVID-19

A person walks past the University of Toronto campus during the COVID-19 pandemic in Toronto on Wednesday, June 10, 2020. (Nathan Denette/The Canadian Press)

The University of Toronto lifted its vaccination requirement this past spring but will mandate that all students living in residence be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 during the upcoming academic year.

The school made the announcement in a memo sent out to the university community on Thursday.

It says that while students who are not fully vaccinated have been permitted to enroll in classes with in-person components since May 1, a decision has been made to continue to reinstate the mandatory vaccination policy for those living in residence.

Under the updated policy, all students moving into residence will be required to have completed their primary series of vaccinations as well as received a booster dose at least 14 days prior to their arrival on campus.

The school is also warning students that the vaccine mandate for attending in-person classes “may be reinstated with little notice.”

“We strongly encourage everyone to remain up-to-date on vaccinations and to upload your vaccination documents to U of T’s UCheck platform. Maintaining updated information on the vaccination status of our community will help inform future health and safety planning. It will also minimize disruption should conditions require vaccine requirements to be reimposed,” the memo states.

The University of Toronto also mandated vaccination against COVID-19 for those living in residence during the last academic year but the addition of a booster dose to the requirement is new.