St Andrews University has revealed 97% of students will arrive in Fife having had at least one dose of the Covid vaccine.
A new survey by university bosses shows 97% of students have had their first dose of the vaccine, whilst 73% will arrive full protected with two doses.
This compares to 74% of those aged 18-29 in Scotland having one dose and 50% with two, according to the Public Health Scotland coronavirus data.
It comes ahead of students flocking back to the Fife town for freshers’ week, which kicks off from September 6.
Students had been urged to get their jab over summer in time for classes starting in St Andrews.
NHS Fife is also working with the university to ensure those yet to receive their second vaccine, or their first dose, can do so.
This will include students from more than 140 countries, presenting a complex challenge to ensure people had been vaccinated.
A new Covid code will also be in force at the St Andrews campus, setting out “the simple steps and behaviours” expected of staff and students.
It comes following “significant” outbreaks at the university earlier this year, with cases linked to students living in halls of residence.
In March 40 students were forced into isolation after eleven people tested positive at St Andrews.
Professor Sally Mapstone, principal and vice-chancellor, at the university, said: “I cannot praise our student and staff communities highly enough for the way the university responded to the pandemic so far, and kept levels of transmission so low.
“In many cases, that has meant considerable personal sacrifices, and significant disruption to the student experience.
“As we begin our new academic year, although most legal restrictions have been lifted and people are entitled to exercise important freedoms again, our students and staff have told us that they wish this semester to be one of transition in which our return to normality is considered and gradual.
“Levels of Covid transmission in the general population in Scotland and the rest of the UK are exceptionally high at present, which is why it has been so important to encourage and support our students to get vaccinated.
“The fact that 97% have had one dose and intend to be fully vaccinated, a percentage which is substantially ahead of that in the general population, says a great deal about the maturity and attitude of the St Andrews student community.
“Learning to live with the virus in our midst will take time, which is why a semester of transition is the right thing to do, a semester in which we are able to re-discover all the things which make St Andrews special, but recognise that, at a very fundamental level, each of us has a continuing responsibility for the health, safety, and wellbeing of all in our community.”
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