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We will delve right into the student or US F1 visa vaccination requirements, but first let's discuss a little about why these vaccinations are important.

• Vaccinations are compulsory according to U.S. Visa and Immigration rules. In accordance with these rules, any immigrant visa applicant must obtain certain vaccinations before issuance of the immigrant visa. So you need to get vaccinated because it’s the law!
• These vaccines have been made mandatory in US universities so as to protect the US population from any potential health risks and reduce the risk of carrier infection.

According to , for people coming to USA, vaccinations are made mandatory for at least one of the following:

• Vaccine that protects against a disease that has the potential to cause an outbreak; or
• Vaccine that protects against a disease eliminated in the United States, or is in the process of being eliminated.

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All the students coming from outside of the US to universities and colleges need to get vaccinated as part of the US F1 visa vaccination requirements. The universities also post international US visa vaccination requirements on their respective websites.

These US student visa vaccination requirements are mandatory for anyone wishing to attend physical classes at the campus. This includes full-time and part-time students, undergraduates, graduate & doctoral students, and residential & non-residential students.

There is a list of diseases that you need to get vaccinated for. The US Embassy vaccine requirement for US F1 visa are:

• Hepatitis A
• Hepatitis B
• Influenza
• Influenza type b (Hib)
• Measles
• Meningococcal
• Mumps
• Pneumococcal
• Pertussis
• Polio
• Rotavirus
• Rubella
• Tetanus and diphtheria toxoids
• Varicella
• COVID-19

Note: In case you do not have the details of the vaccines that you took in your childhood, then you can take a titre test to prove that you are immune to the disease.

Now, some of these vaccination for US student visa were given to you at birth as well. You need to present records of these immunization for US student visa (ask your parents or legal guardians) to your physician so that he/she can sign the form and verify that you have been given these vaccinations and mention the dates on the health form as well.

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While US visa immunisation requirements have always been the norm, the COVID -19 pandemic has led to some updates in this vaccination policy.

Many universities across the US have informed all students, regardless of the number of credits, to be fully or partially vaccinated with an or WHO-listed COVID-19 vaccine.

Accepted COVID Vaccines for US Universities

As of now only 8 COVID-19 vaccines have been and hence are accepted by US universities. These include:

• Pfizer/BioNTech
• Three versions of the AstraZeneca vaccine that includes Covishield
• Johnson & Johnson
• Moderna
• Sinopharm
• Sinovac

Accepted COVID Vaccines for Indian Students for US Universities

For Indian students visiting the US, the Serum Institute of India’s Covishield (Also called Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine) is the only WHO-approved vaccine. Therefore, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin will not be accepted as immunization for US student visa in foreign universities.

The vaccination for US student visa requirements pertaining to COVID-19 are very university specific. The university may ask students one of the following before they arrive to the respective campus:

Option 1: Get fully vaccinated

Full vaccination is considered if 2 weeks have passed after their second dose in a 2-dose vaccination series (CovidShield, Pfizer or Moderna vaccines), or 2 weeks after a single-dose vaccine (Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen vaccine). Universities including Brown, Cornell, Coulmbia, Northeast require students to be vaccinated by COVID.

Option 2: Get at least partially vaccinated

2 weeks should have passed after one dose of the 2-dose vaccination series. Western University and Trent University have communicated that students joining their campus need to be vaccinated with at least the first dose of vaccine. 

Option 3: No Vaccination Required

In this case, the university has not made COVID vaccination mandatory. In such cases, the University might require the students to get vaccinated once they reach the US.

All students are required to upload the proof of their vaccination status to the respective university.

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