Eastern Washington University President Mary Cullinan sent the following announcement to the campus community on Tuesday, Oct. 29:
In February 2019, the Board of Trustees passed a policy requiring all EWU students to provide proof of immunization for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) in order to minimize the significant health risks these diseases pose to our campus. Throughout the summer and into the fall, our Health, Wellness and Prevention Services team worked with our partners at MultiCare to create a system that allowed students to submit their MMR documentation while ensuring student health data protections as required by law.
While thousands of students have submitted their MMR documentation through the Med+Proctor system, a significant number of students have not yet been able to do so. The volume of students seeking MMR vaccinations and titer tests at the MultiCare clinic in Cheney has resulted in a shortage of vaccinations and an extended wait time for appointments.
In order to provide additional time for students to locate their existing MMR documentation or schedule appointments for titer tests or MMR inoculations, I am temporarily suspending enforcement of the Student Immunization policy.
Effective immediately, registration holds for failure to comply with the immunization policy will be lifted. While this suspension of enforcement will allow students to attend classes, please understand that in the event of an outbreak, the Spokane Regional Health District may place campus on exclusionary status and those students without MMR documentation will be restricted from campus. This means that students without MMR documentation will not be able to attend classes, participate in campus activities or reside in the dormitories until the exclusionary status is lifted, which could last as long as six weeks. Further, in the event of an outbreak, students excluded from campus due to a lack of MMR documentation may be unable to complete course work and will not be entitled to refunds or provided exceptional circumstances withdraws.
The spread of communicable diseases is an increasingly likely and potentially dangerous possibility. I urge you to take a few moments and make sure that your MMR documentation is submitted. If you are a student who grew up in Washington state, it is possible that your immunization records can be found through the Washington State Department of Health. Locating and submitting your existing records is the easiest and least time-consuming way to satisfy the MMR immunization requirement. So please take a few moments when you are home over Thanksgiving or winter break to see if you or your health care provider can locate these records.
If you cannot locate your records or have difficulties uploading your documentation to the Med+Proctor system, please contact EWU’s Health, Wellness and Prevention Services team for assistance.
