Almost all St Andrews Uni students have had a COVID vaccine
The University of St Andrews has revealed the majority of students have had two doses of a coronavirus vaccine, with 97% having had at least one
Last updated 3rd Sep 2021
A survey has revealed that 97% of students attending the University of St Andrews have had at least one dose of a covid vaccine, and 73% are fully protected with both doses. Those figures are from a comprehensive survey of new and returning students.
That's much higher than the average as a whole young people in Scotland.
According to data from Public Health Scotland, take-up is at 74% for people aged between 18-29 having had one dose, and only half have had two doses.
Students from more than 140 are arriving into the town ahead of freshers week starting on the Monday 6 September.
Drop in vaccination clinics are also being set up, with the help of NHS Fife, to deliver second doses and first doses to the small number of students yet have theirs.
Principal and Vice-Chancellor Professor Sally Mapstone said: “I cannot praise our student and staff communities highly enough for the way the University responded to the pandemic so far, and kept levels of transmission so low.
“In many cases, that has meant considerable personal sacrifices, and significant disruption to the student experience.
“As we begin our new academic year, although most legal restrictions have been lifted and people are entitled to exercise important freedoms again, our students and staff have told us that they wish this semester to be one of transition in which our return to normality is considered and gradual.
“Levels of Covid transmission in the general population in Scotland and the rest of the UK are exceptionally high at present, which is why it has been so important to encourage and support our students to get vaccinated.
“The fact that 97% have had one dose and intend to be fully vaccinated, a percentage which is substantially ahead of that in the general population, says a great deal about the maturity and attitude of the St Andrews student community.
“Learning to live with the virus in our midst will take time, which is why a semester of transition is the right thing to do, a semester in which we are able to re-discover all the things which make St Andrews special, but recognise that, at a very fundamental level, each of us has a continuing responsibility for the health, safety, and wellbeing of all in our community.”