Ohio State University Announces COVID-19 Vaccine Requirement

COLUMBUS, OH — All Ohio State University students, faculty and staff will need to receive a COVID-19 vaccine by Oct. 15.

Ohio's largest university announced its new vaccine requirement on Tuesday. Students, faculty and staff will also have to wear masks whenever they're indoors.

More than 70 percent of Ohio State University's community has already received one COVID-19 vaccine, according to a public letter from university President Kristina Johnson. All students, faculty and staff will need to receive their second vaccine by Nov. 15.

"There is strong support for this requirement in our community, including student, faculty, staff and university leadership," Johnson said. She further cited the spread of the delta variant of COVID-19 and the spike in new cases and hospitalizations that it is driving in Ohio.

Ohio broke its own summer records for most new COVID-19 cases (4,117) and new COVID-19 hospitalizations (277) recorded in a single day on Tuesday. The delta variant has been the dominant strand of the virus in Ohio since July, according to Dr. Bruce Vanderhoff, director of the Ohio Department of Health.

Johnson said requiring a vaccine is the "safest and most effective" protection against COVID-19.