Students, staff and faculty at Wilfrid Laurier University must be fully vaccinated this fall

Wilfrid Laurier University is the latest post-secondary school in Ontario to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for all people coming to campus this fall.

In a release sent Friday afternoon, the university said all students, staff and faculty must be fully vaccinated with an approved vaccine. People will be asked to confirm their vaccination status beforegoing to a Laurier campus in Brantford or Waterloo. The vaccination policy also applies to the university'slocations in Kitchener, Toronto and Milton.

The decision was endorsed by the Brant County Health Unit and Region of Waterloo Public Health, the university said.

"High vaccination coverage will be our strongest tool to prevent local outbreaks in the upcoming academic year," said Dr. Hsiu-Li Wang, medical officer of health for the Region of Waterloo, in a release.

"Full immunization offers the best protection against COVID-19 and reduces the risk for severe outcomes."

Those who have not been fully vaccinated will be given information about the province's vaccination program. They will also have to get tested regularly for COVID-19 and receive a negative test result before going to campus.

People can request accommodation if they cannot be vaccinated for a medical reason, or for other grounds protected by the Ontario Human Rights Code, the university said. In thatcase, they must still follow testing requirements and health and safety protocols.

Wilfrid Laurier University, along with the University of Guelph, the University of Waterloo, and Conestoga Collegehave previously all said students must be vaccinated to live in residenceon campus as of this fall.

TheUniversity of Waterloo haswarned people going to campus this fall that if they're not fully vaccinated, they would have to undergo twice-weekly antigen screenings.

Other schools that have mandated COVID-19 vaccines include theUniversity of Guelph, the University of Ottawa,Western Universityin London, Ontario Tech University, University of Toronto andSeneca College.