Story at a glance
- Students at the University of Maine had until Friday to register their vaccination status or face withdrawal without a refund.
- The system announced Aug. 4 that vaccinations would be required regardless of their approval status with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
- Roughly 700 exemption requests were submitted across the system.
Students at the University of Maine had until Friday to register their vaccination status or face withdrawal without a refund.
The Bangor Daily News reported that around 93 percent — roughly 21,000 students — had complied with the university’s directive to submit their status or apply for an exemption. The paper noted a sharp uptick from July, when only around 10,000 students reported their proof of vaccination.
The system announced Aug. 4 that vaccinations would be required regardless of their approval status with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration — a decision made in view of the rise in cases due to the highly contagious delta variant.
“This policy change is because of delta,” University of Maine System Chancellor Dannel Malloy said at the time. “We weren’t thinking about this a month ago.”
Malloy said as the deadline loomed the university would be willing to help the remaining holdouts comply with the policy, saying the school “can help, but these final students have to act.”
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Roughly 700 exemption requests were submitted across the system; 656 were for religious reasons and 57 medical, according to the outlet.
The system additionally requires all faculty and staff to be vaccinated or undergo weekly testing.
New cases in Maine are down by 22 percent over the past 14 days, with an average of 456 reported daily cases. Likewise, hospitalizations are down by 29 percent.
Approximately 69 percent of the state is fully vaccinated.
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