IU removed the ethical exemption from its list of acceptable exemptions to the COVID-19 vaccine in November in accordance with changes to government contractor guidelines issued Nov. 10.
“This will not impact anyone who has already claimed an ethical exemption,'' IU spokesperson Chuck Carney said in an email. “At this point in the semester, very few are not either vaccinated or exempted, given a nearly 95% vaccination rate at IU Bloomington.”
IU-Bloomington reports the highest vaccination rate out of all IU campuses, with 94.6% of students, faculty and staff fully or partially vaccinated, according to the IU COVID-19 dashboard. Between Nov. 18 and Nov. 24, 37 positive cases were identified, according to the most recent data available on the dashboard.
IU still accepts religious and medical exemptions. Students, faculty and staff with a previously-approved ethical exemption do not need to change their exemption status but are still expected to follow guidelines for individuals who are not fully vaccinated, Carney said.
CORRECTION: a previous version of this article misstated what exemptions IU still accepts.
