UW-Madison announced on Wednesday a new testing requirement for employees and students that have not shared proof of vaccination.
Effective Aug. 30, all individuals that have not shared their proof of vaccination with University Health Services (UHS) will be required to test weekly for COVID-19. In the previous academic year, students and employees were required to test twice a week to access university facilities.
"The continuing high rate of infection due to the delta variant makes this expanded testing requirement necessary. We continue to plan for a fall semester of in-person classes and other activity," the statement read.
The new requirement applies to both vaccinated students without a vaccination record in their UHS portal and unvaccinated students. The previous policy for the upcoming semester, released in June, stated that only unvaccinated students living in the residence halls would have to test weekly for COVID-19. It is estimated that more than 80 percent of students and 89 percent of employees will be vaccinated against COVID-19.
The university stated that those that do not adhere to the new requirement will be "held accountable," although no further details were given.
According to the announcement, UHS will also begin offering additional vaccine doses to the immunocompromised on Aug. 23.
