CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Institute of Art is among one of the first schools in northeast Ohio to require booster shots for students and staff.

What You Need To Know

  • The booster shot will be required for faculty, staff and students at the Cleveland Institute of Art

  • CIA says the shots need to be done before the start of the spring semester

  • President Grafton Nunes said the school’s COVID task force has instituted multiple safety protocols since the start of the pandemic

According to CIA, those who aren’t yet eligible for the booster by the spring semester deadline are going to be required to get one within seven days after becoming eligible.

Case Western Reserve University is also requiring booster shots for students. 

Bringing animated characters to life is part of a life-long passion for Cleveland Institute of Art senior Allie Wygonik.

“I wanted to make people feel the way I always felt, which is I wanted to take people somewhere that they couldn’t get in real life. So, I wanted people to feel like they could walk into the worlds that I create,” said Wygonik.  

But the animation major at CIA said learning under the cloud of COVID-19 wasn’t the easiest way to do school. 

“I won’t lie and say it hasn’t been challenging. Of course, we all had to go through a major transition. Even me being a digital artist, you really can’t beat having classes in person,” said Wygonik.  

She said she was eager to get the vaccine when it became available to students. She believed it gave students a better chance of staying in class. 

“We have ceramics, glass, painting, drawing, those things can be done by yourself and out of the studio yes, but it makes it so much better and you create so much more quality content when we’re around other creatives,” she explained.    

CIA President & CEO Grafton Nunes showed Spectrum News the safety protocols someone has to go through to enter the school. The process includes a temperature check, proof of health status and a wristband.

Nunes said the school started a COVID task force at the beginning of the pandemic, and the members meet often to discuss protocols.

“In February of 2020, we met every day as a COVID task force because we anticipated that there was going to be a problem with the pandemic. And it was at that point that we started looking into different protocols to keep everybody safe,” said Nunes.  

But now the school is among some of the first in Ohio to require booster shots for staff and students. He said there hasn’t been much pushback with over 90% vaccinated. He said those who haven’t been vaccinated have exemptions and are tested every week. Nunes claimed the omicron variant and safety concerns played a role in the decision to also require the booster. 

“So initially, it was perfectly safe through delta to just require vaccination, but then it became very clear that omicron was a different type of variant, that it was extremely contagious,” said Nunes.  

And for Wygonik, who’s an RA in the school's apartment-style dorms, she said she thinks this gives students the safest way of continuing college life. 

“Not a lot of people can say that they’re living with three other people with a full kitchen and two bathrooms and two bedrooms. And since they’re all living together, sharing that space, and now that we’re allowing guests to be here and they might bring someone who doesn’t live in the building, it’s extremely important that they’re vaccinated and that they’re boosted,” said Wygonik.  

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