A vaccine mandate has been introduced at Victoria University of Wellington for 2022. Photo / Mark Mitchell
A vaccine mandate has been introduced at Victoria University of Wellington for 2022. Photo / Mark Mitchell
Vaccine passports will now be mandatory for everyone at Victoria University of Wellington in 2022, with around 1 per cent of staff and students indicating they will not be vaccinated.
The university announced today vaccines will be necessary for anyone studying, working or visiting campus from January 31 next year. The approach will be reviewed every three months.
Vice-Chancellor Professor Grant Guilford said university surveys had shown 1–2 per cent of their 22,000 students had indicated they did not intend to get the Covid vaccine.
"That gives you several hundred that we'll have to work through on an individual basis and see if we can find a way to respect their decision but also not put others at risk.
"For the students the main answer to the dilemma is the ability to do their work online."
— Te Herenga Waka—Wellington Uni (@WellingtonUni) December 8, 2021
Widespread support for a vaccine mandate was shown by a survey sent to all staff and students, with 90 per cent saying they would be more comfortable coming to campus if other students and colleagues were vaccinated.
Eighty-five per cent of students said they would prefer staff to be vaccinated, and 84 per cent said they would favour other students being vaccinated.
Importantly, Guilford said a significant number of staff and students were vulnerable to Covid-19.
"The primary concern was that about 40 per cent of our students and 40 per cent of our staff are either in a vulnerable population, or have a household member who is," he said.
"So from a risk perspective, that's just unacceptable to allow people onto the campus who could pose that risk to those vulnerable people."
All students, staff and visitors to Victoria University must be vaccinated from Jan 31 2022. Photo / Mark Mitchell
He said they were still taking guidance from the Ministry of Education on how the vaccine mandate would be implemented.
Students and staff would likely self-declare their vaccination status, which would then be linked to the campus electronic systems through their keycard access, he said.
Although some students who were not vaccinated could complete their degrees online from home, others involved practical placements in health and education settings that required vaccination, which meant unvaccinated students enrolled in these courses would be unable to complete them.
Staff members who did not intend to get the vaccine would also be worked through individually, and Guildford said there could be opportunities to be them to be deployed elsewhere in the university. Termination of contract would be a last resort.
Other institutions, including Auckland and Otago universities, have also announced compulsory vaccination policies next year.
