vaccines

UMaine Tells Over 100 Students Get Vaccinated, Tested or Be Disenrolled

Nevertheless, the total student population vaccinated stood at 92.7%, or 20,345 students, with a total of 99.1% in compliance with the policy

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Notices are going out now to more than 100 students in the University of Maine System telling them that they will not be able to attend class after this week.

Those students have missed an Oct. 15 deadline to be vaccinated against COVID-19 or sign up to participate in a weekly testing program after qualifying for religious or medical exemptions in order to attend class in-person.

Students attending classes remotely at UMS schools are not required to follow the policy.

The schools' latest data indicated 213 students were out of compliance but roughly half of that number had not been active for weeks in online portals, Dannel Malloy, the chancellor of the University of Maine System, said in an interview.

"My hunch is those students never showed up," said Malloy who estimated the actual number of students who could be disenrolled is around 107.

Top Boston doctors talk about the "mix and match" approach to COVID vaccine booster shots, variations in vaccine efficacy and school mask mandates.

"We're doing all we can to make sure people understand they could still come into compliance," he explained, saying that the schools have already sent letters and texts and made phone calls to the individuals.

University of Maine data shows that at least some of those notices have worked, because more than 3,000 students who were not compliant a month ago have since adhered to the COVID-19 policies.

Malloy added that the number of people not in compliance stands in stark contrast to the university system's tallies of people who are either fully vaccinated or are in compliance.

As of Monday, the total student population vaccinated stood at 92.7%, or 20,345 students, with a total of 99.1% in compliance.

Students at Maine's flagship university have begun moving back in for the fall semester, with plenty of restrictions.

Malloy also pointed out that the numbers have very little to do with geography and that UMS campuses have "much more vaccinated" populations than the regions they are located in.

"We have not been responsible for making the communities in which we operate our schools and programs in sick," he said, noting that total UMS COVID-19 cases stood at just 23 on Monday.

Asked if he had any advice for other organizations, government agencies and businesses who are looking at vaccinating their workforces ahead of upcoming decades, Malloy said that "competition" was a key motivator for students.

"There was even competition among some of our colleges as to who would get to 100% of resident students vaccinated," he said.

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