Maine Community College System ends vaccine mandate

Courtesy / Maine Community College System Maine Community College System President David Daigler announced that the seven colleges will promptly strengthen and expand wellness education programs.

Write a Comment

By Alexis Wells

Maine’s community colleges have ended the requirement for all on-campus students to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

The Maine Community College System board voted unanimously to end the requirement, effective immediately, the system said Wednesday.

At the same time, the system strongly recommends students receive the vaccination and boosters.

The mandate went into effect for the fall semester of 2021.

The policy change covers Maine's seven community colleges and some 25,000 students. Students at off-site locations must follow the site requirements. The one exemption to the rule is that students in some programs might be required to receive the vaccine due to requirements at third-party locations, the system said.

MCCS President David Daigler said that better access and range of preventative and treatment options for COVID-19, strong vaccination rates in Maine and improved outcomes for pandemic victims were crucial factors when deciding to end the requirement.

“This was not an easy decision because we don’t want to send a signal that our community doesn’t need to take any COVID-19 preventative measures," Daigler said. "Nothing could be further from the truth. The health and safety of our community remain our top priority, but requiring students to have the vaccine is no longer a primary way to accomplish that.”

The college system plans to strengthen and expand wellness education programs to mitigate the spread of respiratory and other illnesses, including COVID-19, influenza and Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), Daigler said. The wellness education efforts may include, but are not limited to, facilitating access to health care tools such as vaccination and flu shot clinics, direct messages to students, digital and print messaging in public spaces, and wellness messages in campus community newsletters.