The University of Chicago will require all students to be fully vaccinated before classes start this fall, but it has not been confirmed if this requirement will apply to the Laboratory Schools. 

According to Interim Director David Magill, university officials are in the process of deciding how this requirement will be applied at Lab, despite it being mandatory for all university students. 

“It hasn’t been discussed for Lab yet, but I hope that it will be required for all of those who are able to get it with the exception of students who may have religious or medical reason that they can’t have a vaccine,” Mr. Magill said. “I think it creates a safety net around the school if everybody has it.” 

If student vaccinations are required for the 2021-22 school year, changes may be made to the Laboratory Schools. 

“It may have an effect on if we have to do social distancing. Those are questions that I have, but I am meeting with the team of epidemiologists at the hospital, and hopefully we get answers,” Mr. Magill said. 

With many students at the Laboratory Schools being too young to receive the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, enforcing this policy would be difficult, but in-person classes will likely be held nonetheless. 

“We may get lucky and those vaccines will be available for younger students, but right now the Illinois State Board of Education has said that they are not going to be having remote education, so it will be in person, and we think we can run it safely for our youngest children,” Mr. Magill said. 

If students are required to get vaccinated before fall classes, the deadline for vaccinations will be in early September according to the university’s coronavirus website, UChicago Forward. David Magill predicts that booster shots will also be a requirement during the next school year. 

 Mr. Magill said, “If we can get back to a much more normal situation, I think everyone will be happier.”