Over 90% Of Students at Miami University Are Vaccinated for COVID-19

Almost 92 percent of students and 80 percent of employees on Miami University’s Oxford campus have received a COVID-19 vaccine, the university has announced.

“Miami’s positive COVID-19 rates in surveillance testing of unvaccinated students on the Oxford campus have consistently remained low, around 0 to 0.5%,” the university pointed out.

According to a university statement, the vaccination rates demonstrate the commitment of the institution to protect the health and safety of all students, faculty, and staff, Erudera.com reports.

The university noted that fewer than 10 percent of students and employees had requested exemptions, adding that the forms continue to be reviewed and processed. It further said that exemptions would be granted for the following reasons:

• medical with documentation
• sincerely held religious beliefs, practices, or observances
• reasons of conscience, including philosophical and ethical beliefs

The Miami Vice President for Student Life, Jayne Brownell, expressed gratitude to all the students and staff who kept the campus community safe this fall, adding “we celebrate this milestone in the fight against COVID-19: more than 90% of our students across all campuses are vaccinated.”

The university has also called on all students, faculty and staff to get vaccinated or to have an exemption by November 22, 2021.

“Vaccination continues to be our best tool in the fight against COVID-19, and we are seeing the benefits at Miami. Miami’s COVID-19 rates remain low, and we have not seen any serious outbreaks among students, faculty or staff,” Brownell said.

In addition to vaccination, Miami University has also responded to the crisis through robust surveillance and wide-net testing of asymptomatic individuals, wastewater monitoring, contact tracing, quarantine, as well as other measures, including face coverings indoors.

The Health Promotion Director at the Butler County General Health District (BCGHD), Erin Smiley, applauded the university’s efforts to provide vaccine clinics where students and staff could address questions and overcome the barriers to receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

As the Miami University dashboard shows, there have been 15 positive cases among students and nine positive cases among employees over the last two weeks.

Among the local universities that have introduced COVID-19 requirements this fall are:  

• Ohio State University
• University of Akron
• The University of Cincinnati
• Mount St. Joseph University
• Xavier University
• Cleveland Institute of Art
• Kent State University

It has recently been reported that thousands of students at three Ohio universities, Akron University, Kent State University, and the Ohio State University have requested vaccine mandate exemptions just to remain unvaccinated.