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Ohio University Eliminates COVID-19 Testing Requirement For Fully Vaccinated People
By: Will Price
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ATHENS, Ohio (WOUB) — Fully vaccinated students, faculty and staff no longer have to participate in the mandatory COVID-19 testing program as Ohio University continues to relax its coronavirus protocols.
Dr. Gillian Ice, the head of OU’s coronavirus response, made the announcement in a statement Tuesday. The statement comes exactly a week after the university released updated health and safety protocols that included dropping previous outdoors mask and physical distancing requirements.
Previously, fully vaccinated students needed to test once a month through the university’s asymptomatic testing partner.
Those who are not vaccinated are still required to test once a week.
OU is still unsure of its vaccination rate as not enough students, faculty and staff have informed the university of their status.
While vaccination rates for the university are not known, 41.06% of Athens County residents are vaccinated as of Tuesday.
The university is not making vaccination mandatory before coming to campus, but Ice said it’s “strongly encouraged.”
Athens County has had seven cases of coronavirus since June 1st, according to data from the county’s health department, bringing it to 5,233 total cases since the beginning of the pandemic.