COVID Booster Shots Mandated For Caldwell University Students, Staff By Jan. 31

CALDWELL, NJ — Caldwell University announced on Thursday that all members of their "campus community" must get COVID-19 vaccine booster shots by Jan. 31 at the latest. College reopens after Martin Luther King Day, on Jan. 18.

The college, based on Bloomfield Avenue in Caldwell, said in a message to the community:

"Due to the increased transmission of COVID-19 in the region, the continued spread of the Delta and Omicron variants across the globe, and the CDC having approved COVID-19 booster shots for everyone ages 16 and older, Caldwell University has decided to require all members of the campus community to receive a COVID-19 booster if eligible no later than Jan. 31, 2022.

"According to our records, this deadline is six months from when most students were fully vaccinated, making most individuals eligible for their boosters within this window. The University will work directly with those who are not yet eligible for their booster by Jan. 31."

Those who have an exemption must get tested periodically.

Other Universities Requiring Booster

Other colleges in New Jersey including Rutgers, Princeton, and the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken have required the boosters for the new semester.

Caldwell University noted that people can schedule a vaccine appointment by using the state of NJ vaccine finder or Essex County vaccine finder. Pharmacies, doctors' offices, and some municipalities also have the vaccines. READ MORE: Where To Find A Vaccine In The Caldwells

More Than 6,000 Hospitalized In New Jersey

Cases of COVID, particularly the easily transmissible omicron variant, have been rapidly proliferating around the state since December. However, 85.5 percent of the cases confirmed and sequenced in New Jersey in the last four weeks are the Delta variant that has been causing deaths and hospitalizations since early summer. Omicron account for 13.9 percent. (Not all positive tests, however, are sequenced to determine the variant).

On Friday, the state's 71 hospitals had reported 5,621 people hospitalized with COVID, 419 getting breathing help from ventilators.

By Monday, the number had climbed to 6,000 hospitalized, a total not seen since the first wave of the pandemic in April 2020. Six hospital emergency rooms were on divert status Monday due to a staff shortage or high patient volume.

In America, more than 837,000 people have died of COVID since the start of the pandemic. The daily death rate is highest right now in these states: Michigan, Delaware, Indiana, Arizona, and Pennsylvania.

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