UMaine System to require COVID-19 arrival testing, offer scholarships to vaccinated students

University of Maine campus shot showing building and a flag

File photo / University of Maine The University of Maine System has its the flagship campus in Orono, shown here.

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The University of Maine System on Friday announced plans to test all unvaccinated students and employees as part of its fall 2021 return to campus, along with a scholarship incentive for students who verify their vaccination status.

Students and employees who verify their fully vaccinated status by Aug. 20 will be exempt from the arrival testing and quarantine requirements, while those who are unvaccinated will be required to quarantine while awaiting test results and wear face coverings while inside university buildings, according to the plan.

As is the case already throughout the state, the University of Maine System as of July 26 will no longer require students and employees who have verified their vaccination to wear masks inside university buildings.

Friday's announcement noted that more than 5,000 University of Maine System community members have already registered their status by using the voluntary tracking portal to upload an image of their vaccination card.

But officials noted that vigilance is necessary given the presence of the very contagious Delta COVID variant, and reports that the majority of patients requiring treatment for severe COVID-19 symptoms are not fully vaccinated.

And as soon as the FDA gives its regular approval to vaccines that have already been issued to hundreds of millions of Americans under emergency use authorization, the University of Maine System anticipates requiring vaccination.

Courtesy / UMaine System

University of Maine System Chancellor Dannel Malloy

"The Delta variant is a real threat, hospitalizing many young, unvaccinated individuals with severe COVID-19 symptoms,” said University of Maine System Chancellor Dannel Malloy in a message to students and faculty members included in Friday's news release.

“Vaccination is our best defense against the threat of COVID and makes life easier and safer,” he added. "We have no more urgent task in our return to normalcy than to get our vaccination rates as high as possible while also maintaining safety protocols for those who have not or cannot get vaccinated.”

Maine continues to have one of the country's highest vaccination rates, with 78.5% of adults having had at least one dose and 73.3% now fully vaccinated, as shown in the New York Times database.

The University of Maine System Science Advisory Board and its Vaccination Planning and Partnership Task Force are led by University of Maine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy.

Campus-based vaccination clinics and a student-led vaccination campaign were among the steps Maine’s universities took to increase vaccination before the end of the spring semester.

Vaccination clinics are also being planned on university campuses for the start of the fall semester, including a weekly series of clinics at the University of Maine in August and September.

“We have relied on science throughout the pandemic to protect our communities,” said Ferrini-Mundy said. “We are incredibly proud of the public health commitment of our students, faculty and staff, and know that our return to campus this fall is made possible because of their leadership.”

'Shot Clock' scholarships

Students among the fall 2021 in-person population who verify their vaccination status will be eligible to be selected for a $1,000 Shot Clock Scholarship.

Employees who have registered their vaccination status will also be eligible for prizes. Fall classes begin at the University of Maine System universities on Aug. 30.

"I encourage anyone who has not yet been vaccinated to please make an appointment to do so today,” said Irene Neal, a University of Maine System trustee and a nursing student at the University of Maine at Fort Kent. “If not for yourself, please get vaccinated to protect and honor the health and safety of your family, friends, classmates and everyone else in our campus communities.”

The University of Maine System, which is made of up seven universities, has an annual enrollment of nearly 30,000 students.

At the start of the pandemic in 2020, the System safely evacuated and sent home about 7,000 residential students who would otherwise have been living on campus, and thousands more who rent or share space, Malloy told Mainebiz in an "On the Record" interview published last June.