The University of Missouri-Kansas City is now requiring COVID-19 vaccination for all faculty, staff and students who work in clinical settings and have direct contact with patients as part of their UMKC work or training.

Students and employees must meet the requirement by Oct. 1, according to a campus letter sent August 10.

UMKC students, faculty and staff play a significant role in providing healthcare to greater Kansas City and the state of Missouri. The requirement affects faculty, staff, volunteers and students of the schools of Dentistry, Medicine, Pharmacy and Nursing and Health Studies. In addition, the requirement applies to faculty and students in masters and doctoral training programs in Psychology, Counseling, Counseling Psychology and the School of Social Work engaged in external field education and clinical practica or clinical intervention studies.

UMKC faculty, staff, volunteers, and students with patient contact at the University Health Center, UMKC Counseling Center and the Community Counseling and Assessment Clinics are also subject to the requirement.

UMKC officials said the vaccination requirement is necessary because COVID has entered a new phase, citing Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisories that the Delta variant spreads more easily and quickly than other variants, driving higher infection and death rates and putting significant strain on healthcare resources.

The university is offering students and employees the opportunity to apply for medical or religious exemptions to the requirement.

For all other UMKC students, employees and visitors, masks will continue to be required in classrooms, laboratories, libraries, meeting rooms and other public indoor settings regardless of vaccination status. Individuals who have not been vaccinated against COVID-19 will continue to be required to wear masks at all times while on campus, indoors or outdoors.