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Unvaccinated Students and Employees Will Have to be Tested Weekly, According to Ocean County College Officials
If students, instructors, and staff at Ocean County College are not completely vaccinated before the semester begins on Jan. 24, they will be compelled to test weekly for COVID-19 during the spring semester.
As the college prepares for the spring term, authorities revealed the testing requirement.
"OCC's campus is open for all members of our community to work and learn full time and in person," the announcement added. "The health and safety of our students and employees is of the utmost importance to us, and we base our decisions on advice from local, state, and federal public health authorities."
Weekly testing will be required beginning Jan. 24 and will continue throughout the spring semester; it is free on campus.
Students, instructors, and staff who work or study solely online and do not visit the Manahawkin campus or the Southern Eduction Center are not eligible.
Those who have been vaccinated can provide proof to the college by submitting their vaccination card; more information is available on the OCC website. Those who submitted proof in the fall will need to do so again since OCC's mechanism for keeping track of those data has changed.
Unvaccinated people who have had a past COVID-19 infection and have a positive antibody test result may be exempt from weekly testing. You must supply a doctor's certificate stating the date of the positive antibody test in order to be eligible for exemption. Because OCC cannot predict how long antibodies will protect you, your doctor must also offer an end date for the exemption.
"Positive antibody test findings alone will not qualify you for exemption from weekly testing if you are unvaccinated. To be considered for exemption, you must upload a doctor's note providing the required information to the Medicat system "officials have stated.
HealthReporting@ocean.edu will continue to track reported exposures and positive COVID-19 testing, according to OCC authorities.
