Return To Campus Update Reports Above National Average Vaccination Rate

On Oct.19, Northeastern Illinois University released a Return To Campus Update.  It reported that 85 percent of students and 91 percent of faculty are fully vaccinated. These rates of vaccination are well above the national average, with the CDC reporting that 69 percent of people 18-years-old and above are fully vaccinated. 

Dr. Sharon Heimbaugh, Director of Student Health Services, said that, “As of October 22, 2021, there were 60 self-reports of positive COVID cases. Of these 60 positive cases, 26 were unvaccinated or partially vaccinated and 34 were fully vaccinated.”

Of these 60 cases, 56 were reported by students and four by faculty. 24 of the students who reported cases were unvaccinated, of which, nine were on campus while the other 15 were not. Of the four faculty members who reported positive cases, two were vaccinated and two were not. The two who were unvaccinated were on campus and contact tracing procedures were followed, and of the two who were vaccinated, one was on campus and the other was not.

Given how many students and faculty there are and the relatively small number of reported cases, the percent of those who were vaccinated and contracted COVID-19 is near zero. Meanwhile, because the unvaccinated population is smaller, 0.02 percent of unvaccinated students have gotten sick, while 0.01 percent of unvaccinated faculty have.