Mass. state universities to require vaccines this fall

Photo | Grant Welker Worcester State University

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Fitchburg, Framingham, Worcester State and their counterparts statewide will require students to receive COVID-19 vaccines this fall, they said in a joint announcement Friday.

Those colleges join others in Massachusetts including Assumption University in Worcester and Northeastern University in Boston to announce requirements before students are able to attend in-person courses or live in residence halls. The Massachusetts State University Council of Presidents said it expects employees to be fully vaccinated before the start of the fall semester.

“Student safety and the safety of our communities remains at the forefront of our planning as we prepare to return to in-person learning and campus life in the fall," James Birge, the president of Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts in Boston and chair of the state university presidents group, said in a statement.

Last week, the Massachusetts Association of Community Colleges said its member schools, including Quinsigamond Community College in Worcester and Mount Wachusett Community College in Gardner, would not have such a vaccine requirement. The group said it didn't want to require vaccinations if doing so might create more inequities among students with varying access to the shots.

Assumption was the first Central Massachusetts college to announce it would require vaccinations but said it would make some exceptions, including medical, religious and moral.