In policy reversal, UNM requires vaccinations by October

After a sudden shift in policy, the University of New Mexico is requiring all students, staff and faculty to be fully vaccinated against the COVID-19 virus by Sept. 30, 2021. The reversal from the University’s initial decision to forgo a vaccine mandate comes after local and national rises in COVID-19 cases.

This vaccine policy applies to “all UNM personnel and students who access UNM facilities, housing, programs, services and activities located on the main campus in Albuquerque, the Academic Health Sciences campus in Albuquerque, Gallup campus, Los Alamos campus, Taos campus and the Valencia campus,” according to the Bringing Back the Pack website.

Accommodations will be made for individuals for medical and religious reasons; faculty and staff working completely remotely or students enrolled in an accelerated online program that live outside of New Mexico may also request an exemption. Exemption forms can be found online and should be submitted through the vaccine verification website.

All individuals are required to upload proof of full vaccination or proof of exemption.

The move for a vaccine mandate was announced by UNM President Garnett Stokes on Aug. 2 via the President’s Weekly Perspective, the same day that the University’s reinstated indoor mask policy went into effect. A special Board of Regents meeting was held on Aug. 5 after Stokes’ announcement to vote on the policy, which passed unanimously, putting the policy into effect immediately.

“Unfortunately, as infections have increased around the state and the nation, our vaccination rate has not kept pace in a manner sufficient to ensure we can protect our community from a similar outbreak,” Stokes wrote. “In short, with cases of COVID and its variants slowly increasing, if we wish to return to a fully operational campus in a manner that protects the safety of our community, encouraging vaccination and mask wearing is not enough.”

Stokes encouraged everyone to get vaccinated in her Weekly Perspective, citing the $100 that all New Mexicans are eligible to receive if they get vaccinated by Aug. 31 as well as the University vaccine clinics that are running in the Student Union Building from Monday through Friday until Aug. 27.

“This is not a decision that has been made lightly and is, for the safety and well-being of our communities, a necessary and responsible course correction,” Stokes wrote.

The monetary incentive program that the University announced in July will continue until Aug. 31, “such that any faculty, staff or student covered under this mandate who completes their vaccination series by that date will be eligible for an incentive,” according to Bringing Back the Pack.

The Central College of New Mexico and New Mexico State University implemented similar COVID-19 vaccine requirements shortly after UNM’s was enacted.

Megan Gleason is the Editor-in-Chief of the Daily Lobo. She can be contacted at editorinchief@dailylobo.com or on twitter @fabflutist2716