MACOMB, Ill. — Western Illinois University students will be required to take COVID-19 testing this summer and fall, unless they've been vaccinated. Being vaccinated itself will not be a requirement though.
The WIU Executive Director of Auxiliary Services and Risk Management Joe Roselieb joined us live during the second half hour of our 11 a.m. show Thursday, July 29th to talk about why this is the case. Roselieb said he was impressed with the schools response to students who got COVID on campus last year.
"We had isolated or designated residence halls for quarantine and isolation. We have a very good response team in place," he said Thursday. "Overall with those actions last year, we felt like we did a very good job of getting students and those that tested positive out of our general population, so building off of that, that was one reason."
Roselieb said the second reason they're not requiring vaccines is because they'd like to value the choice that students have of whether or not they get the vaccine. Classes begin for Western Illinois University students Monday, August 23rd. You can submit your vaccine information at wiu.edu/vaccinationportal/ (select either the "student" or "employee" button).