BOSTON (AP) — Students, faculty and staff at all 15 Massachusetts state community colleges will be required to be fully vaccinated against the coronavirus by January, the schools’ presidents said.

“While a significant number of students, faculty, and staff are already vaccinated or are in the process of becoming vaccinated, the 15 colleges are seeking to increase the health and safety of the learning and working environment in light of the ongoing public health concerns and current guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention,” they said in a statement released Monday.

The schools will continue to offer a wide range of virtual learning opportunities to ensure vaccination status is not a barrier to an education, they said.

Students enrolled in classes without an in-person component, or who do not plan to visit campus during the spring semester, will not be required to provide documentation of vaccination.

The schools have a total of about 135,000 students.

The Massachusetts State Universities and the University of Massachusetts systems also require student vaccinations.

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VIRUS BY THE NUMBERS

The number of new daily cases of COVID-19 increased by nearly 1,300 Tuesday while the number of newly confirmed coronavirus deaths in Massachusetts rose by 25.

The new numbers pushed the state’s confirmed COVID-19 death toll to 18,094 since the start of the pandemic, while its confirmed caseload rose to nearly 744,000.

There were about 640 people reported hospitalized Tuesday because of confirmed cases of COVID-19, with more than 170 in intensive care units.

The average age of those who have died from COVID-19 was 75.

The true number of cases is likely higher because studies suggest some people can be infected and not feel sick.

More than 4.5 million people in Massachusetts have been fully immunized against COVID-19.

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BREAKTHROUGH CASES

The number of fully vaccinated people who have tested positive for COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic in Massachusetts continues to climb.

In the past week — from Sept. 11 to Sept. 18 — the number of breakthrough cases of the virus jumped by more than 4,500 — from 27,777 to 32,345.

The breakthrough cases still amount to less than 1% of fully vaccinated individuals, and health officials say the vaccine offers strong protection against getting infected and decreases the chances of hospitalization and death.

Of the recorded breakthrough infections in Massachusetts since the start of the pandemic, about 1,000 resulted in hospitalization and 217 resulted in death, according to the state Department of Public Health.

That’s a small fraction of the more than 18,000 deaths in the state since the start of the pandemic.

COVID-19 cases in vaccinated people are counted as those who test positive more than 14 days after the final dose of a vaccine.

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