Duke now requiring students, staff and faculty to get a COVID-19 booster shot

A message sent to the campus on Monday said the omicron variant and a spike in cases locally and across the country contributed to the decision.

Members of the Duke community are asked to get their boosters "in January or as soon as they are eligible under CDC and state guidelines" so they will be protected for the spring semester.

Students, faculty and staff who don't get their booster shots before returning for the spring semester will have opportunities to get vaccinated on campus in January, the notice read.

According to Duke, more than 20,000 faculty and staff and nearly 4,000 students have already received their booster shots.

The statement read, "Guidelines and details for compliance will be shared in the coming days and will outline appropriate timelines consistent with current guidelines. But we wanted to provide you with advance notice of our plans so that you can take action as soon as possible."

Michael Schoenfeld, Duke University's vice president for public affairs, said he hopes the success of the vaccine mandate will inspire other companies.

"This is an educational institution, and we believe in science," said Schoenfeld. "If we can be an inspiration, if we can be a model, if we can be on the leading edge of this to protect the health and safety of not just our workforce, our employees, but also the community, then we will absolutely take that."

Duke is among a small number of private universities nationwide to announce such requirements, joining the likes of the University of Notre Dame, Cornell University, Brown University and Syracuse University.