At Bilkent University, the vast majority of students have been vaccinated against COVID-19. As of the beginning of October, 98.4 percent were vaccinated. This rate is based on the number of undergraduate and graduate students authorized to be on campus for the fall semester.
“At last and with great happiness, we welcomed all students back to campus on September 22 for the fall semester to resume in-person instruction,” said Rector Abdullah Atalar. “This became possible thanks to our students, nearly 99 percent of whom are vaccinated.”
Prof. Atalar further noted that all Bilkent students wear masks both indoors and outdoors when on campus. Academic and social activities are proceeding as usual, he stated, and sports are now taking place indoors as well as outdoors.
Only 195, or 1.6 percent, of Bilkent’s 12,500 students are not vaccinated. Those who choose to remain unvaccinated may still use campus facilities and engage in academic activities here, provided they present a negative PCR or Diagnovir test conducted at most one day before their campus presence, at their own cost.
Regarding university vaccination rates, recent figures for two Ivy League schools provide a benchmark: At Harvard, 96 percent of students were vaccinated; at Yale, the vaccination rate was 99.5 percent, and 98.2 percent for graduate students.