![Cleveland State University students will be required to wear masks indoors and a minimum of 5 percent of students will be tested for coronavirus every week. [Annie Wu / Ideastream Public Media]](https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/8973887/2147483647/strip/true/crop/980x551+0+0/resize/840x472!/format/webp/quality/90/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2Flegacy%2Fuploads%2F2021%2F9%2F04%2Fbanner%20CSU_wu.jpg)
Cleveland State University is holding off on a COVID-19 vaccine mandate for students and staff, opting instead for continued safety guidelines like indoor masking regardless of vaccination status and random testing, combined with new outreach and incentives to encourage vaccination.
In an announcement Friday, accompanied by a video with Dr. Forrest Faison, the schools’ Chief of Health Strategy, the school said it will reevaluate its plan on Oct. 19.
“We believe in vaccinations and we believe our approach is the best way to get more of us vaccinated,” Faison said.
CSU is choosing a different route than other universities in Ohio, including The Ohio State University, Kent State University and University of Akron, which all are mandating vaccinations for staff and students.
“You may have seen a number of our fellow universities come out with vaccine mandates, most of which have exceptions and exclusions that may take us away from our ultimate goal – to get as many of us vaccinated as possible,” Faison said.
He did not elaborate on which of the exceptions would slow a vaccination program.
CSU is reporting a total of 12 coronavirus cases at its campus as of Sept. 3, with none of those infections occurring on campus, according to Faison.
