Protecting Purdue, campus COVID-19 vaccination rate ranks among highest of any community in the state as the fall semester gets underway

Sending a strong message to their classmates, co-workers and all of Indiana, 79% of Purdue University’s West Lafayette campus is documented as fully vaccinated against COVID-19 at the start of the fall semester.

Indeed, if Purdue was its own ZIP code for public health reporting data, the campus’ rate for those fully vaccinated against COVID-19 would rank among the top 3% in the state’s 740 ZIP codes, based on figures from the Indiana Department of Health. 

At 79% and growing, Purdue’s rate shows 43,130 students, faculty and staff are fully vaccinated as the 2021-22 school year begins today (Aug. 23). For students living in University Residences, the rate is 87%, and it’s 79% for all students at the West Lafayette campus, as of today. And 90% of Purdue faculty and 75% of staff are fully vaccinated. 

The Purdue campus’ rate also is far outpacing the statewide average, with the health department reporting 51.8% of Hoosiers fully vaccinated among those ages 12 and up. The statewide vaccination rate is 36.5% for those ages 16-19, 36.8% for ages 20-24, and 33.6% for ages 25-29.

Purdue students and employees who submitted and had their COVID-19 vaccine documentation verified by Aug. 13 will be excused from routine surveillance testing and won’t have to quarantine after high-risk exposure to the virus as long as they remain symptom-free, thereby avoiding possibly disrupting their studies and work duties.

Surveillance testing for COVID-19 of those unvaccinated begins today and will be as frequent as weekly during the semester. In addition, Protect Purdue guidelines call for supplementing routine surveillance testing with targeted testing of any potential hot spots on an as-needed basis and regardless of vaccination status.

Going forward, those who choose to get the vaccine will be excused from regular surveillance testing once they are deemed fully vaccinated. 

The Protect Purdue Health Center stresses that vaccination against COVID-19 is the surest, safest and quickest way to significantly reduce the risk of exposure and serious illness, providing a significant step toward the return to a greater sense of normalcy for the Purdue community. For the latest updates, the Protect Purdue dashboard has been refreshed, with campus information for ongoing surveillance testing results, isolation and quarantine, case severity, and the new running vaccination tally and rate.