WSU ending two vaccine exemptions upon FDA approval

PULLMAN — Washington State University will cancel any "philosophical" and "personal" Wuhan coronavirus vaccine exemptions for students if the FDA approves of any of the three experimental inoculations currently available in the U.S.

Under the new rules emailed to the WSU community Thursday, Aug. 12, students are mostly required to provide proof of vaccination by Sept. 10 to be on any campus, including the main campus in Pullman and the satellite WSU-Tri-Cities campus.

University employees — including professors — have until Aug. 23 to be vaccinated, officials said.

Those who previously had a personal or philosophical exemption are required to get at least one shot of the experimental vaccines within 45 days.

In the alternative, when the FDA approves of the experimental vaccines, students will be able to request a religious or medical exemption, officials said.

Under the vaccination policy, all students and employees who are on any campus in the WSU system must be fully vaccinated or face disciplinary action.

Visitors to any WSU campus will be required to wear a mask if they enter a building if they are not fully vaccinated or decline to provide proof of inoculation.

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Roger Harnack, Publisher

Roger Harnack is the co-owner/publisher of Free Press Publishing. Having grown up Benton City, Roger is an award-winning journalist, photographer, editor and publisher. He's one of only two editorial/commentary writers from Washington state to ever receive the international Golden Quill. Roger is dedicated to the preservation of local media, and the voice it retains for Eastern Washington.

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