Ohio State becomes 9th B1G university to mandate vaccines for students

Ohio State announced on Tuesday that will it be mandating vaccines for all current students and faculty.

Here’s the announcement:

With Monday’s news that the U.S. FDA has granted full approval to the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, Ohio State will now require every student, faculty and staff member to be vaccinated against COVID-19.

— Ohio State (@OhioState) August 24, 2021

The mandate comes on the heels of the news that the Pfizer vaccine has been approved for use by the U.S. FDA.

According to the release, all Ohio State students must receive at least the first shot of their vaccine by Oct. 15. The second shot deadline is Nov. 15.

Per the release, more than 73 percent of Ohio State’s community has already received at least one dose of the vaccine.

“The health and safety of our community is and always will be a top priority,” Ohio State president Kristina Johnson said in the release. “Thank you for doing your part to protect our campus community. ”

Ohio State is now the ninth Big Ten university to mandate vaccines for students, according to CHNI Pennsylvania’s Elton Hayes. The remaining universities are Nebraska, Penn State, Purdue, Iowa and Wisconsin.

That leaves Nebraska, Penn State, Purdue, Iowa and Wisconsin as the five remaining Big Ten schools that haven’t mandated COVID-19 vaccinations for students. https://t.co/ID4rsx9Tqq

— Elton Hayes (@EHDC12) August 24, 2021

Ohio State opens its 2021 season on the road at Minnesota on Sept. 2.