After a two-month grace period, mandatory vaccination deadlines are upon students and staff at both the University of New Mexico and New Mexico State University.
Individuals who fail to comply with the mandate by Sept. 30 will either be asked to leave or fulfill other requirements to remain enrolled and in good standing, KOB4 reported.
"I think we've done a really great job, and it's all thanks to our community. No one person can make this happen, and so I think it's a real testament to Lobos wanting to protect themselves, each other and the people around them,” UNM Spokesperson Cinnamon Blair told the station.
At UNM, unvaccinated students will be asked to test weekly and will have to upload their result by Oct. 8. They will not be allowed to enroll for the spring semester. If a student doesn't respond at all, the school says it will unenroll that student after Nov. 5.
Faculty and staff who do not comply, by comparison, will have their employment terminated.
"I think there was a lot of thought put into it by a lot of people here at the university in terms of how one goes about that. It's not a simple disenrollment, and we're still wanting to work with students. We really want our students, faculty and staff who have not yet responded to work with us to either fill out their exemption forms, get their vaccinations, work with us so we can have a successful semester,” Blair said.
The school spent $1.8 million on vaccination incentives ahead of the deadline.
At New Mexico State, representatives said they did not yet have numbers on total vaccinations, KOB4 reported. According to the school's site, all unvaccinated faculty, staff and students must undergo weekly testing beginning in October.