Sent on behalf of Craig Stephenson, President and CEO
Dear Students and Colleagues of the Centennial College Community:
Throughout the pandemic, the health and safety of our community has been the single most important priority for me and your leadership teams. We have continually delivered the highest standards based on science and public health guidance – and will continue to do this moving forward.
Like you, we have been following the current trajectory of the more highly transmissible and harmful COVID-19 delta variant, particularly among unvaccinated individuals.
As we approach the Fall 2021 Semester, it is clear that vaccination is the most effective tool we have to provide for the health and safety of our community – and also enact our social responsibility to be on the other side of the pandemic as quickly as possible. So many of you have done this already, evidenced by our stellar provincial vaccination rates, but we still have a way to go towards recommended levels for population immunity.
In step with other post-secondary institutions, Centennial College will be launching an Immunization Policy and Procedures that will require proof of vaccination for students, employees, visitors, and contractors in order to have access to the College’s campuses/satellite locations.
For those who do not submit proof of vaccination (because they are exempt as per the forthcoming College Policy and Procedures), there will be a requirement to participate in regular, College-facilitated testing to access campuses/satellite locations.
This decision follows extensive reviews of public health evidence and both bioethical and legal frameworks guiding vaccination requirements conducted by the College’s Immunization Working Group – and is aligned with a statement by the Chief Medical Officer of Health on the importance of vaccinations and the requirement for immunization policy implementation at postsecondary institutions.
In preparation, we strongly urge eligible community members to schedule their first or second dose as soon as possible (in keeping with the required minimum period between doses) – and to receive the first dose before the start of classes on Tuesday, September 7, 2021.
For those still requiring a vaccination, please note that Centennial is still hosting a Scarborough Health Network (SHN) vaccination site at our Progress Campus, and you can find details on this and additional vaccination locations on the SHN website.
You likely have many questions, ranging from how to provide proof of vaccination, exemption validation, and information management, through to processes on campuses and grace periods/timelines to acquire both vaccinations given that the Fall 2021 Semester is just around the corner.
The Immunization Working Group is diligently working on all the procedural details to answer those questions and more. Please send any questions to covidimmunizationpolicy@centennialcollege.ca and the Immunization Working Group will use this information as part of the development process to ensure that answers to your questions are incorporated in the final version of the Immunization Policy and Procedures – which will be posted online by Friday, August 27, 2021.
The pandemic is ever-evolving and so must our approaches – the College’s Immunization Policy is in response to this evolution and direction from the Chief Medical Officer of Health. I am extremely thankful to our scientific and public health communities for their roles in bringing us to a place where options exist so that we can enjoy the living, learning, and working environments our campuses have to offer.
With deepest respect,
Cg
Dr. Craig Stephenson
President & CEO
Centennial College