Colleges Host COVID-19 Vaccination Clinics to Support New Booster Mandate
To continue providing the safest educational environment possible, the North Orange County Community College District (NOCCCD) Board of Trustees has extended the COVID-19 vaccination mandate through the end of the 2022 calendar year.
Fully Vaccinated to Include Booster Dose
As part of the NOCCCD COVID-19 vaccine requirement, all employees, and students over the age of 12 using campus facilities and/or taking in-person classes, labs, or accessing on-campus services, will need up-to-date vaccinations, which now includes a single booster dose when eligible*, on or before August 15, 2022. Students and employees will be informed when they can upload their updated documentation in myGateway.
Get the COVID-19 Booster
To help fulfill this requirement, vaccination clinics will be held next week at Fullerton and Cypress colleges.
Fullerton College will host a free COVID-19 vaccination clinic on Tuesday, April 26 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. in Building 200, Rooms 224/226/228. Registration is encouraged and individuals may register for an appointment at the Othena website. Once on the site, follow the directions and select April 26 as the vaccination date and Fullerton College as the vaccination location.
Cypress College will host a free vaccination clinic on Thursday, April 28, 2022 from 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. in NOCE Cypress Center, Rm. 118 (near Lot 4). Visit the Cypress College COVID-19 website for more information.
Both vaccination clinics are open to the campus community. Walk-ins are welcome.
Students and employees will be informed when they can upload their updated vaccination documentation in myGateway. Please visit the Fullerton College Return to the Hive website for more details about the booster requirement.
*Booster Eligibility
NOCCCD is following the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) guidelines for determining when an individual is eligible for the booster. Visit the CDC website for additional details.
- Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna: If you received Pfizer or Moderna for your primary vaccine series, you are eligible to receive a booster shot five months after the second dose
- Johnson & Johnson: If you received Johnson & Johnson for your primary vaccination, you are eligible to receive a booster shot two months after the single dose
- World Health Organization-approved vaccines (vaccination outside of the United States): If you were vaccinated outside the U.S. with a WHO-approved vaccine, you are eligible to receive a booster shot five months after the final dose in the primary vaccination series. If you receive a booster shot in the United States, it is advised to choose either Pfizer-BioNTech or Modern for the booster shot
What is the NOCCCD Vaccination Mandate?
On August 24, 2021, the NOCCCD Board of Trustees, the District’s governing board, approved mandating COVID-19 vaccinations for all NOCCCD employees and students who come on campus with allowance for religious or medical exemptions as defined by law. Effective November 1, 2021, all students who come on campus to attend classes or access services must be verified as “fully vaccinated”* or have an approved exemption and submit to weekly COVID-19 testing.
At the March 22, 2022, Board meeting, the Board of Trustees voted to extend the NOCCCD vaccine mandate to the end of the calendar year (2022), as well as add a booster shot requirement for all employees and students over the age of 12 who access campus and District facilities in-person. This decision was based on guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) that states individuals who are fully “up-to-date” with their vaccine doses—including booster shots—are best protected from getting seriously ill, being hospitalized, or dying from COVID-19.
The mandate went into effect on November 1, but students and employees are still encouraged to upload their records to gain compliance if they have not done so already. Free testing is required through the fall 2022 semester for students and employees who have approved exemptions. However, free testing is available to all members of the campus community.
What does fully vaccinated mean?
According to the CDC as of April 2, 2022:
- A person is fully vaccinated two weeks after receiving all recommended doses in the primary series of their COVID-19 vaccination.
- A person is up-to-date with their COVID-19 vaccination if they have received all recommended doses in the primary series and one booster when eligible. Getting a second booster is not necessary to be considered up-to-date at this time.
