All Notre Dame students — undergraduate, graduate and professional — are required to receive the COVID-19 bivalent booster vaccine, director of University Health Services (UHS) Edward Junkins announced in an email Monday.
Students had previously been required to receive the initial COVID-19 vaccine and a booster.
Those who do not receive the bivalent booster will not be able to enroll in classes for the 2023-2024 academic year, the email said. Students can apply for religious or medical exemptions.
“Bivalent booster vaccines provide an additional layer of protection against COVID-19 and, unlike previous monovalent boosters which were designed only to protect against the original virus that causes COVID-19, the updated bivalent booster vaccine protects against both the original virus that causes COVID-19 and the Omicron BA.4 and BA.5 variants,” Junkins said in the email.
The CDC recently recommended a bivalent booster for those over 5-years-old who received their last booster at least two months ago in a Nov. 11 report.
The email, which did not mention any requirements for faculty or staff, said the University will hold an on-campus vaccination clinic in January. The deadline to receive the booster or an exemption is March 1, 2023.
