Get Booster Or Get Out: MA Colleges Requiring Extra COVID Vaccines

Several colleges will require eligible students, staff and faculty to get COVID-19 booster shots for the spring semester.

The Boston Globe reported Wednesday Boston College, UMass and Emerson are among those mandating the extra dose of vaccination.

The news comes as COVID-19 cases spike and the Omicron variant spreads ahead of what could be another harsh pandemic winter.

Most colleges required full COVID-19 vaccinations before the fall semester.

More than 4.8 million Massachusetts residents have been fully vaccinated, according to last week's Department of Public Health numbers. There have been more than 1.1 million booster shots administered. Updated data is expected Thursday evening.

Other colleges, including Harvard and Boston University, have encouraged booster shots but not decided whether to mandate them, according to The Globe.

The public and lawmakers have continued debating whether vaccine mandates are government overreach or a necessary public health measure. Two Democratic senators on Wednesday joined Republican colleagues in rebuking President Biden's vaccine mandate for large businesses — a mandate that doesn't even account for booster shoots.

While booster data is still in relatively early stages, there is evidence they provide a significant level of extra protection. Dr. Anthony Fauci on Wednesday told CNN it's "going to be a matter of when, not if" a booster will be necessary to be considered fully vaccinated.

"Certainly, when you want to talk about what optimal protection is, I don’t think anybody would argue that optimal protection is going to be with a third shot," Fauci said.