University of Virginia Disenrolls 238 Unvaccinated Students

The University of Virginia has disenrolled more than 230 students for not complying with the school’s COVID-19 vaccine requirement.

The Virginian-Pilot reports 238 students, including 49 who were enrolled in fall courses, were disenrolled after “receiving multiple reminders via email, text, phone calls, calls to parents that they were out of compliance.” Approximately 96.6 percent of the UVA student body is fully vaccinated and the remainder have an approved exemption, according to the university.

The news arrives three months after UVA announced that it would require coronavirus vaccines for in-person students attending classes in the fall. Students were required to submit proof of their vaccine status or an approved medical or religious exemption by July 1.

During a town hall last month, University of Virginia President Jim Ryan maintained that vaccines are a necessary component of the school’s re-opening strategy.

“We are in a much better and much different position than we were last year, primarily because of the vaccines and the extraordinarily high vaccination rate in our community,” Ryan said, according to a report by the Washington Post. “This means we can return in person to classes, activities, sporting events and research labs as we have been planning to do in the fall semester, with the residential experiences that are at the heart of this university.”