Nova Southeastern will no longer require vaccinations due to new Florida law

Gov. DeSantis suspended emergency orders across state

Several students at Nova Southeastern University test positive for COVID-19

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – After announcing in April COVID-19 vaccinations would be required for the fall, Nova Southeastern University officials said it would not be able to uphold that policy due to the latest executive order from Gov. Ron DeSantis.

The university announced Wednesday it would follow the law, which goes into effect July 1. The university said it developed a program called NSU Vax Max to help encourage its campus community to get vaccinated on or before Aug. 1.

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“The NSU Vax Max program is designed to help us reach a voluntary, aspirational goal of 100% of those who can receive the vaccine,” NSU President George L. Hanbury II said in a statement. “We will set a minimum threshold—based on our best assessments of public health guidelines—of 80% of our on-campus students who have reported that they were voluntarily vaccinated in order to return to normalcy this fall on each of NSU’s campuses.”

The executive order signed by the governor was signed along with a bill that changes local government emergency powers. The governor said the new legislation puts safeguards in place to protect against government overreach in the event of an emergency. It grants the legislature the ability to overrule an emergency order by the governor.

According to the Associated Press, the university has 6,314 undergraduate students and 14,574 advanced degree students at its main campus in Davie, and across campuses in Fort Myers, Jacksonville, Miami, Miramar, Orlando, Palm Beach Gardens, Tampa and Puerto Rico.

For more on the university’s message, click here.


About the Author:

Brenda Argueta is a digital journalist who joined ClickOrlando.com in March 2021. She is the author of the Central Florida Happenings newsletter that goes out every Thursday.

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