Students who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 and uploaded their vaccine records to the ASU Health Portal will not be required to wear face coverings on campus or submit daily health checks, the University announced Monday.
While vaccinations aren't required for students to return to campus, students who don't provide their vaccine records will be required to wear masks indoors and outdoors on campus, complete COVID-19 tests twice weekly and complete daily health checks.
The announcement comes in the wake of the University's update June 11 saying vaccinated employees who have uploaded their vaccine records are no longer required to wear masks in ASU buildings. Employees must continue to submit daily health checks through July 15.
READ MORE: ASU announces return to pre-pandemic campus operations
Monday's statement announcing the new policy said students are expected to be fully vaccinated two weeks before Aug. 19, the first day of classes.
“As Sun Devils, we commit to being part of the ASU Community of Care where we take care of ourselves, each other and our community," Vice President of Student Services Joanne Vogel said in the statement. "Managing COVID-19 is both a matter of personal responsibility and public health, and we ask that you follow all protocols as they apply to our collective well-being.”
The University did not provide specifics in the update on how it will enforce mask wearing for those who are unvaccinated.
Gov. Doug Ducey spoke out against ASU’s new policy on Twitter, saying “I’ll be issuing an executive order that will ensure this excessive policy is never enforced, and asking the Legislature to codify the order into law.”
ASU reported 13 active COVID-19 cases Monday, a decrease of four from last week’s 17 cases. Students off campus in the metropolitan Phoenix area make up 11 of the cases, and two of the cases are faculty and staff, according to the University update. There are no active cases on the Tempe, Downtown Phoenix, West or Polytechnic campuses.
The University has reported 2,290 positive cases since Jan. 1 out of the 97,057 total tests administered in that time period. ASU’s total positivity rate is roughly 2.4%.
The Arizona Department of Health Services reported a total of 394 new COVID-19 cases and no new deaths in the state Monday. Over 3.4 million Arizonans — 48% of the state's population — have received at least one dose of the vaccine, according to the report.
COVID-19 vaccination appointments across the state can be found on the ADHS vaccine patient portal. ASU students can continue to schedule COVID-19 vaccination appointments through the Health Portal, and ASU employees can access vaccination information through ASU Employee Health.
Reach the reporter at mcfisch4@asu.edu and follow @morgfisch on Twitter.
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Morgan Fischer is the politics editor, she works with her desk to cover topics related to politics in the ASU community. She has previously worked as an intern for RightThisMinute.
