100% of SUNY New Paltz students are now in compliance with SUNY’s Vaccine Policy

All New Paltz students enrolled for fall 2021 are fully compliant with the SUNY-wide COVID-19 vaccination requirement.

More than 97% of our students have shown proof that they are fully vaccinated.

“The high vaccination rate among SUNY New Paltz students is just one more example of how they have consistently stepped up to help protect this community throughout the COVID-19 pandemic,” said President Donald P. Christian. “Our campus is once again full of life and activity this fall, and at the same time, the number of active cases in our community is low. That’s a testament to the effectiveness of the vaccine – which remains our most powerful tool for defeating this virus – and to the commitment our students, faculty and staff have shown in taking the necessary steps to allow us to return to a safe, productive and fun campus experience.”

The small number of students who are not fully vaccinated have either been approved for a medical or religious exemption or are taking a fully online course schedule and have signed an attestation that they are not coming to campus for any reason.

Unvaccinated students, faculty and staff must get a COVID-19 test every week they are on campus. The College is also conducting surveillance testing of 20% of our vaccinated population weekly.

SUNY New Paltz continues to require everyone to wear masks in indoor spaces on campus, regardless of vaccination status.

SUNY’s Vaccine Policy for students went into effect on Aug. 23, 2021, when the Pfizer vaccine received full FDA approval.

Most of our students (about 80%) had already shown proof of vaccination when the SUNY policy took effect on August 23.

Those who had not were granted a five-week grace period to get vaccinated and show proof of vaccination, or be approved for an exemption.

The number of vaccinated students increased steadily during that five-week period, as the College hosted on-campus vaccination clinics and undertook a direct outreach campaign via text, email, social media and one-on-one consultation, to let students know what steps they needed to take to avoid withdrawal.

These measures continued through the Sept. 27 deadline. Ultimately, seven New Paltz students (out of a total enrollment of more than 7,000) have been withdrawn from in-person courses for refusal to comply with the SUNY Vaccine Policy.

Across the SUNY system, 99.5% of all enrolled students (about 375,000) are in compliance, as reported on Oct. 13.

SUNY employees, like all New York State employees, are required to be fully vaccinated or to test every week. As of this writing, 78% of SUNY New Paltz employees have provided proof that they are vaccinated against COVID-19.

More information about our campus’s coronavirus response, including vaccination rates, active cases and testing positivity rate, can be found on our COVID-19 Dashboard.