Schools that are mandating vaccines should consider whether more expansive allowances are appropriate for international students. For example, some schools mandating vaccines may allow international students to receive vaccines approved by either the FDA or the World Health Organization (WHO).
As of June 2021, the WHO approved eight COVID-19 vaccines for emergency use:
Pfizer-BioNTech
Moderna
Johnson & Johnson
Three versions of AstraZeneca
Sinopharm
Sinovac
Additionally, institutions may want to allow unvaccinated international students extra time once they are in the U.S. to complete a series of FDA-approved vaccinations. The CDC states in its COVID-19 vaccines clinical considerations that people vaccinated outside the United States with a non-FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccine may be offered revaccination with an FDA-authorized vaccine if they either 1) received only partial doses of a WHO-authorized vaccination or 2) received all or some of the recommended doses of a COVID-19 vaccine that isn’t WHO-authorized. The minimal interval between the last dose of a non-FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccine and an FDA-authorized COVID-19 vaccine is 28 days.
All schools should provide vaccination information for international students, regardless of whether vaccines are required or encouraged. For sample international student communications, see American University’s vaccination requirements for international students, Columbia University’s international student protocol for getting vaccinated and uploading documentation, and the University of Michigan’s guidelines for international students getting the COVID-19 vaccine.