US colleges divided over requiring COVID-19 vaccinations for students
By Collin Binkley article
Student pharmacist Wilbur Quimba dilutes vials of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine at University Medical Center of Southern Nevada on December 16, 2020, in Las Vegas, Nevada.
(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
BOSTON - U.S. colleges hoping for a return to normalcy next fall are weighing how far they should go in urging students to get the COVID-19vaccine, including whether they should or legally can require it.
Universities including Rutgers, Brown, Cornell and Northeastern recently told students they must get vaccinated before returning to campus next fall. They hope to achieve herd immunity on campus, which they say would allow them to loosen spacing restrictions in classrooms and dorms.
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Alabama
Montgomery: Officials said Tuesday that the state will see a slight increase, about 16%, in COVID-19 vaccine doses coming in federal shipments, but the ongoing shortage remains the chief obstacle to getting more people inoculated. President Joe Biden announced Tuesday that the U.S. is boosting deliveries to hard-pressed states over the next three weeks to increase vaccinations. “I’m pleased that Alabama will receive a slight increase in our vaccine supply. Any margin of increase is appreciated, but we have a long way to go to be able to provide them to any Alabamian who wants one,” Gov. Kay Ivey said Tuesday. State Health Officer Scott Harris said Alabama will receive an additional 10,000 first doses in its upcoming delivery. The state had been receiving about 50,000 to 60,000 first doses each week but will s