Nova Southeastern University said Wednesday it was no longer mandating that students, faculty and staff receive a COVID-19 vaccination before fall classes.
The reversal of the vaccine requirement announced April 1 comes in the wake of a new Florida law that will not permit businesses, schools and governments to require proof of vaccinations.
“NSU always follows the letter and spirit of the law and we must do that as the law goes into effect on July 1, 2021,” university president and CEO George L. Hanbury II wrote in a post on the school’s website.
Hanbury wrote that the school is promoting a voluntary vaccination program called NSU Vax Max. The goal is to get every on-campus student vaccinated, but the university has set a threshold of 80 percent before returning “to normalcy,” he wrote. Disclosure of vaccinations is voluntary.
The university has nine locations, including the Kiran C. Patel College of Osteopathic Medicine in Clearwater. In addition the school has campuses in Davie, Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Miami, Miramar, Orlando, Palm Beach Gardens and Puerto Rico. The university has 6,314 undergraduate students and 14,574 advanced degree students.