LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — UNLV's COVID-19 vaccine policy is set to start for the spring 2022 semester and the school is reminding students to get their vaccine information as enrollment opens in two weeks.
Visible reminders are spread around UNLV’S campus, reminding students to get fully vaccinated so they can enroll in their spring semester classes. Some students are making sure it won’t be an issue.
“I got my shot early. It’s a safety measurement. I feel a lot safer,” Hiovana Zekios, a UNLV sophomore, said.
For Zoe Brill, a grad student, it gives some peace of mind as she pursues her master's. She believes a majority of students already got vaccinated.
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“I do think it gives me feeling better about going into in-person classes,” she said.
The Nov. 1 date set by the school is the first day students can enroll for the spring semester. The school says it’s more of a recommendation to make the process easier. Students who don’t will be placed on enrollment hold until it is cleared up. Brill says she sees why the school is serious about this.
“I think safety is important and I understand why the school did what they did. I know a lot of organizations, businesses, and other schools all around the country have done the same thing,” she said.
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Vaccine mandates at other universities have been allowed to stand. Supreme Court Justice Amy Coney Barrett denying a petition in August from a group of students at Indiana University to strike down the mandate there. UNLV says students can apply for medical or religious exemptions. Brill says the school is accommodating students who remain unvaccinated.
“They made it to where if you don’t want to be vaccinated, you can just take online classes, so I think most people are caring about safety for others,” she said.
The university says they are still gathering data on how much of the student body is vaccinated and developing an enrollment process for students to decide to strictly take online classes.
