Saint Elizabeth Joins Growing List Of NJ Universities Requiring COVID Booster

MORRIS TOWNSHIP, NJ — Saint Elizabeth University will mandate COVID-19 booster shots, joining a growing list of New Jersey higher-education institutions doing the same. The university will require people to get the shot as soon as possible or no later than Feb. 15, President Dr. Gary B. Crosby said Friday.

“Mandating COVID-19 boosters is another way SEU is working to keep our community safe and healthy,” Crosby said in Friday's announcement. "This deadline is six months from when most faculty, staff and students were fully vaccinated, making most individuals, except for those with approved medical/religious exemptions, eligible for the booster by February 15."

See info on booster eligibility from the Centers for Disease Control.

The small, Catholic university's new requirement comes as the institution begins the semester remotely. Virtual classes began Monday, with plans to restart in-person education Jan. 24.

Students, faculty and staff must submit a negative test — PCR, rapid or at-home — taken within 72 hours of their intended return to campus. Read more: Saint Elizabeth U. To Begin Semester Remote Amid NJ COVID Surge

Masking remains mandatory inside all Saint Elizabeth buildings.

Saint Elizabeth joins a growing list of New Jersey universities with booster requirements set to take effect during the spring semester. Students and employees at nearby Drew University have until March 31 to get the shot. Read more: Drew University To Require COVID Booster By End Of March

All eligible Princeton University students and staff must get a booster shot by Jan. 30. Students, faculty and staff at the Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken must receive the shot as soon as they're eligible, but no later than March 31.

Rutgers University announced a booster requirement Tuesday for students and employees by the time the institution returns to in-person learning Jan. 31. Read more: Rutgers Now Requires Booster Shot For All Students, Staff

Students at the County College or Morris will give students and staff the option to get fully vaccinated or tested for COVID-19 weekly. Read more: No COVID Vaccine Mandate At County College Of Morris

Since Aug. 23, Saint Elizabeth has reported 14 cases in on-campus students, 10 in off-campus students, nine for employees and four for campus-based contract workers. Saint Elizabeth had a student population of 786 in fall 2020, according to U.S. News & World Report.

Many schools of all education levels around the nation are currently wrestling with whether to go temporarily remote amid the omicron-variant surge, and some have done so. Cases among students and staff in New Jersey's K-12 schools and universities have ballooned in recent weeks.

Universities in New Jersey reported 128 cases among students and 50 among staff for the week ending in Nov. 28, according to the New Jersey Department of Health. The case totals increased to 291 among students and 235 among staff for the week ending Jan. 2.

Reported cases among students and staff in New Jersey schools more than doubled from the week ending Dec. 26 to the week ending Jan. 2, according to the state health department. Case rates increased from 10.5 to 24.97 of every 1,000 students and from 23.27 to 58.55 infections for every 1,000 employees in that span.

See more local resources:

• Looking for a COVID test? Here's what to know about Morristown's local testing centers.
• Here's where to find a COVID-19 booster shot — or first or second vaccination — around Greater Morristown.

Although most people with COVID-19 get better within weeks of the illness, some experience conditions known as long COVID or long-haul COVID, according to the CDC. Learn more about long COVID at the CDC's post-COVID conditions page.

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