High rates of vaccination will be the key to helping society recover from the pandemic

Recent messages from federal and provincial public health officials have been encouraging and clear – the COVID-19 vaccine will allow us to be together safely sooner, says Dr. Peter Ricketts, Acadia President and Vice-Chancellor.

The University has recently approved a vaccination policy for students and employees. While vaccination is not mandatory, it is strongly recommended, and the University is striving to achieve a fully vaccinated campus community.

“Our goal is that our campus remains a safe place to work and study,” says Ricketts. “We are striving to exceed the provincial levels of vaccination participation in hopes of being able to further reduce restrictions on campus.”

The University recognizes that not everyone can or will be completely vaccinated before returning to campus in September, so recommended health and safety measures like mask wearing, regular testing, and physical distancing remain in place. The University is taking measures to urge all employees and students to get fully vaccinated as soon as possible. This includes a detailed survey of incoming residence students to assess their vaccination status prior to arrival on campus.

The University continues to work with public health officials to implement its comprehensive vaccination policy, including providing quarantine support, testing, and access to vaccinations after arrival.

Working together, means being together, faster

To encourage vaccination, Acadia has joined a cross-Canada social media campaign, Faster Together, that encourages people of all age groups to get vaccinated as soon as possible. The cross-sector collaborative project is led and developed by Spark Advocacy, Abacus Data, and the Canadian Labour Congress.

Acadia University joins hundreds of organizations, several sister institutions, and Universities Canada, as a partner in Faster Together. The campaign amplifies the message shared by Nova Scotia Public Health that the more people in our communities who are vaccinated, the more quickly we can return to ‘normal life’ with fewer restrictions.

Campus communicators will develop customized campaign materials that showcase pre-pandemic events and activities at Acadia as part of the educational social media campaign that will run during the summer.

“We want to return to the kind of learning and working environment for which Acadia is renowned,” Ricketts says. “And all of this promise depends on having high levels of fully-vaccinated members of our community.”

More information

Read the vaccination policy on the COVID-19 information website.

Learn more about the Faster Together campaign.