With more research being conducted every day on COVID-19 and related safety measures, Wake Forest is doing what they can to adhere to new regulations and guidelines as they are released. Students and faculty were all required to receive the COVID-19 vaccination before arriving on campus at the beginning of the year — provided that they were not exempt. Because of this requirement, Wake Forest has an extremely high vaccination rate of 97%.

This high vaccination rate, along with other preventative measures, have kept campus relatively free of the virus, according to Vice President of Campus Life Penny Rue.

As of Nov 13, Wake Forest has only 123 confirmed positive cases of COVID-19 since Aug 1. Per earlier reporting, unvaccinated Wake Forest students were much more likely to contract COVID-19 than their vaccinated peers.

Recently though, studies have shown that vaccines steadily lose their effectiveness over time. For this reason, the CDC believes that booster shots for COVID-19 can help keep the virus at bay. In response, Wake Forest is providing options for students to receive booster shots through on-campus clinics.

These vaccine clinics will be held from Nov. 30 through Dec. 2 on the second floor of the Sutton Center. The boosters are available to all students and completely free of charge. The only requirement is that all students bring their vaccination cards and wear masks for the duration of their appointment.

The on-campus clinics will only be offering Pfizer booster shots. Students that originally received the Moderna or Johnson & Johnson vaccine will still be able to receive boosters, too, because these doses are compatible with those vaccines as well.

Students are also able to get their booster shots off campus if they wish to do so. Locations for specific off-campus clinics can be found on the Our Way Forward webpage of the university’s website. However, Rue suggests that students take advantage of clinics on campus.

“That would be the simplest, easiest thing to do,” Rue said.

With members of the Wake Forest Community getting booster shots at the on-campus clinics, student health will “have that information uploaded into students’ health charts automatically,” and so students won’t have to upload the information to the portal themselves.

Rue said the administration is “following the research very carefully.” At this time, the university is not requiring students to receive booster shots, but this may change as more research into the virus and booster efficacy is released.

With that being said, booster shots are recommended by the university’s administration. Rue believes being vaccinated and receiving boosters gives the Wake Forest community “the greatest chance of increasing our collective protection.”

The percentage of students that have received COVID-19 booster shots is not known at this time, but data will be collected and the information made public as the 2021-2022 academic year progresses.

For more information about COVID-19 here on campus, visit ourwayforward.wfu.edu. For information about upcoming booster clinics and how to reserve your spot, visit go.wfu.edu/boost.