Northeastern will require students to have COVID-19 vaccine this fall

BOSTON — Northeastern University is the first major school in Massachusetts to announce a COVID-19 vaccination requirement for all students returning in the fall.

The policy, announced on Tuesday, applies to all undergraduate, graduate and doctoral students.

Students will be required to show proof of vaccination before the first day of class in September, unless they have a medical or religious exemption.

“We expect to be back fully in-person at regular occupancy, including fully in-person teaching, and normal occupancy in residence halls and dining facilities,” said Ken Henderson, chancellor and senior vice president for learning at Northeastern.

The university plans to return to full-time, in person learning for the fall semester.

“I can’t see us returning back to normal in any other way,” said Nicole Aziz, a sophomore at Northeastern. “I think I’ll feel safer coming back, knowing most of my classmates have been vaccinated.”

Other big name schools across the country, including Brown, Rutgers and Cornell, have announced the same vaccination requirement for the fall.

Northeastern students who Boston 25 News spoke with applauded their school for being the first in the Commonwealth to make the decision.

“This is something you buy into when you’re part of a society, and it’s for the greater good,” said Madeleine Perko, a sophomore at Northeastern.

Back in January, Northeastern became the first university in Massachusetts to vaccinate its school community under the state’s phased priority rollout.

Soon after that, the state started rerouting vaccines to mass vaccination sites.

Cox Media Group