One plan for American higher ed this fall: how many campuses are requiring vaccines?
As spring term proceeds, colleges and universities are planning for this upcoming fall semester.
There is a lot going on in this complex process, especially as pandemic conditions change. I have posted about one scenario already, plus a glimpse of all of 2021 from way back in 2020, and there are more posts to come. Today I just wanted to focus on one particular detail, and I’ll phrase it as a question:
How many colleges and universities will require COVID-19 vaccinations for students, faculty, and staff to return to campus?
Such a requirement makes sense on the face of it. The leading vaccines do a great job of blocking COVID spread. There are growing stocks of vaccines, multiple brands of the stuff, and also a burgeoning system of vaccination sites across the nation. If a college or university wants to return to in-person education, mandating vaccines feels like an intuitive choice.
Some institutions are already doing so. Here’s my current list of campuses requiring vaccinations:
- Brown University
- Cornell University
- Fort Lewis College
- Northeastern University
- Nova Southeastern University
- Oakland University
- Rutgers University
- St. Edward’s University
Are there others? I can keep a list if it’s useful.
Why wouldn’t a campus require vaccines? For example, a group of Idaho colleges and universities decided not to.
One reason is if leadership thinks it’s redundant. The SUNY system Chancellor Jim Malatras stated that those 64 institutions will not require vaccination, because people will do it on their own:
“The way we’re approaching this is it’s going to be voluntary. As we’ve been opening up and getting more folks eligible, we’ve been pushing very hard to get all of our faculty, our staff, and our students eligible vaccinated. People are getting vaccinated. They don’t need to be mandated. They’re doing it because they want to turn the page on COVID…”
Another reason is that states might prohibit this from taking place. Texas just did this for any institution taking state money, like public universities:
A third reason to avoid mandating jabs is that it’s harder to require medicines that are only FDA approved for emergency purposes.
Meanwhile, many colleges and universities are apparently thinking about it. Here’s a sample of “ask us later” institutions in the Boston area. So is UNC-Charlotte, it seems.
I have some other questions, like: will these campuses enforce perimeter checks? What will they accept as proof of vaccination (the card, or a physical copy thereof, or a photo)? How many people opposed to public health measures will claim a religious exception? Will some campuses mandate vaccination for students, but not faculty or staff?
More to come. As ever, happy to hear your thoughts in comments below.
(thanks to Benjy Renton and Todd Bryant for some fine links; cross-posted to my blog)
