Oregon State University 'likely' will require COVID boosters

CORVALLIS, Ore. (AP) — Oregon State University says it will “likely” require students and employees to receive a COVID-19 vaccine booster shot.

Oregon Public Broadcasting reports the school has already mandated the initial doses of the vaccine. OSU says the booster requirement isn’t official, but urged students, faculty and staff to seek out the additional shot over the holiday break.

“Please be aware that while presently not a requirement, it is likely OSU will require all employees, as well as students engaged in on-site learning, to obtain the booster, as an appropriate follow-up to the university’s vaccination requirement,” wrote OSU Provost and Executive Vice President Edward Feser in a letter to the university community.

On Monday, the University of Oregon announced it will require booster doses for students and staff, but it did not set a deadline to comply.

And the University of Washington says it will implement remote learning for the first week of the winter quarter in January because of growing concerns about the highly-contagious omicron variant. Several other schools across the country are taking similar measures in the face of the highly-contagious variant, including DePaul, Harvard and Stanford universities.