University of California backtracks, now says COVID-19 vaccines will be mandatory this fall: report – Fox News

California retires coronavirus business restrictions

Restaurants will open at full capacity and fully vaccinated customers are no longer required to wear masks in most situations in The Golden State. Cynthia Ariosta, owner of Pizzeria Tra Vigne, with reaction.

The University of California system will now require all of its students and staff who want to return to campus this fall to be vaccinated against COVID-19, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Regent Eloy Oritz Oakley told the newspaper that UC President Michael Drake "does plan to move forward with the vaccine mandate."

It's an about-face for the school system, which has 280,000 students and 227,000 faculty and staff across 10 campuses.

Drake, who is also a medical doctor, said in an April proposal that while all students and staff are strongly encouraged to get vaccinated, it would only be mandated "once a vaccine has full approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration."

U.S. DELIVERS 1.35M JOHNSON & JOHNSON COVID-19 VACCINES TO MEXICO

The FDA has so far issued an emergency use authorization for three vaccines made by Moderna, Pfizer-BioNTech and Johnson & Johnson.

It's currently unclear when the vaccines will get full approval. Pfizer applied for full authorization of their vaccine on May 7, while Moderna applied for full authorization on June 1.

In this April 8, 2021, file photo, Kent State University student Jarrett Woo gets his Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccination from Kent State nursing student Allie Rodriguez in Kent, Ohio. (AP Photo/Phil Long, File)

UC said in a statement to the Chronicle on Monday that because the FDA is expected to eventually grant full approval to the vaccines, the school system would go ahead and mandate them to give everyone time to get vaccinated before the fall.

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State officials said 66.4% of Californians have received at least one dose of a vaccine and 55.6% are fully vaccinated.

Several private schools in California including Stanford University and the University of Southern California have already said they will require students and staff to be vaccinated this fall.

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University of California backtracks, now says COVID-19 vaccines will be mandatory this fall: report - Fox News