vaccines

COVID-19 policies vary across the Five Colleges 

As students return to in-person classes and campuses across the country, colleges and universities have implemented COVID-19 measures to ensure the safety of students, faculty and staff. Mount Holyoke College updated students before the fall semester with new measures to follow — several of which are subject to change depending on the situation in the area and on campus. The other colleges and universities within the Five College Consortium also released their new COVID-19 policies. Although many of the same measures are followed across each of the five campuses, there are some differences between the schools.

College enacts vaccination mandate for community members

A COVID-19 vaccination will be required for all faculty, staff and students at Mount Holyoke College as of July 8, 2021. This mandate extends to those who work with or regularly interact with the College and its campus, according to the Mount Holyoke College web page “Opening the Gates.”

College to require employee vaccinations

College to require employee vaccinations

Mount Holyoke College will require employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 in fall 2021. The College announced this decision in a statement posted to the Mount Holyoke website on June 30, two months after its announcement that all students will be required to be vaccinated.

Mount Holyoke offers COVID-19 vaccine for students, requires vaccination for fall 2021

Mount Holyoke offers COVID-19 vaccine for students, requires vaccination for fall 2021

Hampshire County has received the lowest number of doses per capita of any county in Massachusetts, but the county has still managed to vaccinate a larger share of the population than many other counties. Hampshire has consistently had the lowest number of doses throughout the pandemic.

Massachusetts Will Not Begin Vaccinating Most College Students and Employees until April 2021

Massachusetts Will Not Begin Vaccinating Most College Students and Employees until April 2021

As of Feb. 24, the commonwealth of Massachusetts has begun COVID-19 vaccination for select groups of “priority” individuals, according to the Massachusetts Department of Health. The state will not begin vaccinating college students and employees until Phase 3 of vaccine rollout, slated to begin in April 2021.