Do Nursing Students Need the COVID-19 Vaccine?

Vaccine requirements vary by state, school, and clinical site, so the only definitive answer comes from your own program. What does not change is this: nursing students are held to stricter vaccination standards than the general student body, because you work directly with patients.

Why Nursing Students Face Stricter Standards

Clinical placements are the pressure point. Sites are hard to secure even in normal times, and they carry their own visitor and immunization rules. Programs want to limit the risk of a student exposing patients or coworkers to infection, so they tend to require more, not less.

This predates COVID-19. The CDC recommends several vaccines for healthcare workers and students, including hepatitis B, influenza, varicella (chickenpox), and meningococcal disease, among others. Most programs require proof of these before you ever set foot on a unit.

"Nurses are educated under the scientific model, and the eradication of disease through vaccination is a classic application of this model," says Audrey Auer, PhD, MSN, RN, a nursing education director. "As nurses, we facilitate childhood vaccination programs, seasonal influenza campaigns, and shingles and Pneumovax vaccines for the elderly."

Where COVID-19 Fits

During the height of the pandemic, many colleges added COVID-19 vaccination to their requirements, and nursing programs often went further than the rest of campus because of clinical exposure. Some states issued emergency waivers reducing required clinical hours, and programs leaned on virtual simulation, telehealth, and call-center work to limit face-to-face contact.

The legal picture has settled considerably since then. COVID-19 vaccines are now fully FDA approved rather than authorized for emergency use only, which removed the main legal argument against mandating them. At the same time, many schools and clinical sites have rolled their COVID-19 requirements back, while others still ask for the vaccine or a documented exemption. This is exactly why you confirm with your program rather than assume.

Exemptions

States allow medical exemptions everywhere, religious exemptions in most states, and personal or philosophical exemptions in a smaller number. Schools that require vaccines generally follow their state's exemption rules. Historically, very few students claim them: among kindergartners in 2018-2019, exemptions for at least one vaccine totaled just 2.5%. If higher education follows the same pattern, most students will not be exempt.

The Bottom Line

Requirements shift, and they differ from one program and clinical site to the next. Check your school's current immunization policy directly, including its COVID-19 stance and its exemption process, before you enroll or start clinicals.