Colleges In 14 States Won’t Require The Covid Vaccination Is Yours One Of Them
When the coronavirus began to spread around the country last year, most colleges and universities shut their doors. And when they began to reopen in the fall, they did so in piecemeal and convoluted ways.
In some cases, students could live in dorms but had to take classes online. Dining halls were reservation-only. Singing was banned. While some schools avoided major outbreaks, others became hot spots.
The introduction of three Covid-19 vaccines early this year to college populations seemed to present an exit from these patchwork reopenings, which robbed students of a traditional college experience. But an NBC News analysis of rules across the U.S. found that vaccination requirements for students have proven to be just as complicated as the frenetic fall 2020 semester, if not more so.
In Texas, public universities cant require a vaccination, but private ones can. In Massachusetts, where colleges and universities can mandate Covid-19 vaccinations, 43 of more than 100 had agreed to do so by mid-May. In New York, public universities cannot allow for religious exemptions, while a majority of the states private universities can.
Among other findings in the analysis:
Lorine Najjar, 21, a senior at the University of Colorado Denver, hopes schools find a solution.
I lost my motivation for school, she said of remote learning. I understand why people are scared to get the vaccine, but it will help return us to normal life.
If I Am Granted A Religious Or Medical Exemption Can I Attend Face
A student who is granted a religious or medical exemption is entitled to a reasonable accommodation. The exact format of the accommodation will depend on the individual situation that the student and Pierce College faces. Students and employees with approved exemptions must still wear masks indoors.
School Vaccination Requirements And Exemptions
All states, the District of Columbia, and territories have vaccination requirements for children attending childcare facilities and schools. These vaccination requirements are important tools for maintaining high vaccination coverage and low rates of vaccine-preventable diseases . Exemptions from vaccination requirements may apply for some children.
Vaccination requirements and permitted exemptions vary by area. Please check with your state, local, and territorial health departments for more information.
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Do College Students Need Mmr
In the U.S., almost everyone receives the CDC-recommended two doses of MMR, the vaccine against measles, mumps, and rubella, as young children. The MMR affords good protection against these diseases, and routine vaccination with a third dose of MMR isnt necessary for all students.
Still, there are some circumstances in which youll want your student to get a dose of MMR before he or she arrives on campus. If for some reason your child didnt receive MMR vaccination at a young age, they should have two doses, separated by 28 days.
Heres why: Although most recent measles outbreaks havent been on college campuses, they are considered high-risk settings. Mumps is sometimes a concern for college students as well. Between 2015 and 2017, two large outbreaks at universities in Iowa and Illinois caused several hundred students to get sick.
The CDC usually recommends that people in communities with an active mumps outbreak receive an additional dose of MMR. A 2017 study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that a mumps booster in an outbreak significantly reduced the risk of infection. For measles outbreaks, the CDC recommends people who arent adequately vaccinated catch up, but people generally dont need an extra dose of MMR if they’re already immune to measles.
Editor’s Note: Catherine Roberts contributed reporting to this story.
What Does It Mean To Be Fully Vaccinated
In general, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention , people are considered having up-to-date vaccination status:
- Two weeks after their second dose in a 2-dose series, such as the Pfizer or Moderna vaccines, or
- Two weeks after a single-dose vaccine, such as Johnson & Johnsons Janssen vaccine, or
- At the time specified in either the FDA licensure or World Health Organization approval, after the final administration of any other vaccines,
and if they have received a booster shot when they become eligible for one.
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Who Will Pay For The Vaccine
Initial supplies have been paid for by the federal government. Vaccines administered by the State of New York and the City of New York as part of the CDCs national vaccination program are administered free of charge.
In addition, local pharmacies, health clinics, and primary care providers are also providing access to COVID-19 vaccines free of charge. You should consult the CUNY coronavirus website to locate the nearest vaccination center.
What Does Having Up
What is required to have up-to-date vaccination status will change over time as the CDC changes its definition, and the definition will be kept current on this website. As of now, it means having completed the initial series of vaccination shots at least 14 days previous, and having had a booster shot when eligible.
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Should Colleges Require Students To Get The Covid Vaccine
The 360 shows you diverse perspectives on the days top stories and debates.
Whats happening
Californias two major university systems announced last week that they will require all students, faculty and staff to be vaccinated against COVID-19 before they return to campus in the fall. The University of California and California State University systems with more than 760,000 students across dozens of campuses are the latest schools to join a growing list of colleges that will mandate vaccinations at the start of the next academic year.
Vaccine requirements are far from universal, however. The University of Louisiana system will encourage students to get vaccinated but will ultimately leave the choice up to individuals. A number of colleges are waiting for more clarity on whether they have the legal authority to mandate COVID vaccinations before making their decision.
As of last week, all Americans over the age of 16 are eligible to receive the vaccines. But young adults, who make up the majority of college students, have a long way to go before they match vaccination rates of older demographic groups. Only 9 percent of Americans between 18 and 29 are fully vaccinated, compared with 36 percent of the total adult population, according to the CDC.
Why theres debate
A Full List Of Colleges Requiring The Covid
- University of Alaska at Anchorage
Arizona
- California College of the Arts
- California Instititute of the Arts
- California Institute of Integral Studies
- California Institute of Technology
- California Lutheran University
- California State University system
- Bakersfield, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, Channel Islands, Chico State, Dominguez Hills, East Bay, Fresno State, Fullerton, Humboldt State, Long Beach, Los Angeles, Maritime Academy, Monterey Bay, Northridge, Sacramento State, San Bernardino, San Diego State, San Francisco State, San Jose State, San Marcos, Sonoma State, Stanislaus State
Florida
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Colleges Say Students Must Get A Covid Vaccine But No Not That One
Vaccine requirements were designed mostly for American students. That is presenting hurdles for international students without access to one of the eight W.H.O.-approved vaccines.
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Milloni Doshi, a 25-year-old student from India who is supposed to start her masters degree this fall at Columbia Universitys School of International and Public Affairs, has a problem.
Although Ms. Doshi has been vaccinated against the coronavirus, she received two doses of Covaxin, which is made by an Indian manufacturer and is not currently approved by the World Health Organization, as required by the university.
Columbia has told her she will need to be revaccinated with a different vaccine once she arrives on campus, but no one can say for sure if it is safe to do so.
I am just concerned about taking two different vaccines, she wrote via a messaging app. They said the application process would be the toughest part of the cycle, but its really been all of this that has been uncertain and anxiety-inducing.
Neither Covaxin nor the Sputnik V vaccine, which is manufactured in Russia, has been approved by the W.H.O. American students, however, have access to the Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna and Johnson & Johnson vaccines, three of the eight authorized by the health agency, according to a W.H.O. spokesman.
‘bad Public Health And Bad Public Policy’
The challenge some schools face in vaccination efforts starts at the top: their states governor.
As Republican governors waged wars on vaccine passports documentation of a Covid-19 vaccination that is required to enter certain spaces colleges found themselves in the crosshairs. The so-called passports are usually discussed in the context of travel or access to large gatherings, but in states like Wyoming and Florida, officials told colleges that a Covid-19 vaccination requirement fell under the vaccine passport umbrella.
Two days later, Nova Southeastern was forced to reverse the requirement, which had become illegal.
I am frustrated with the state, said Charles Zelden, a professor of history and politics at Nova Southeastern. They are getting in the way of my classroom, my purpose to educate my students.
We are having people self-report on a voluntary basis if they have been vaccinated, and once we hit herd immunity on campus, or 80 percent vaccinated, then we will be able to open campus more so, but still not completely, Zelden said.
Not everyone objects to the change. Aliyah Gomez, 19, a rising sophomore, is happy vaccination is no longer required.
I was taken aback when I originally read the school was going to require the vaccine, Gomez said. It feels a bit pushy and Im not the only one who thought this was rushed. Gomez plans to eventually get vaccinated but wants to wait a little while.
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Overview Of Student Isolation Protocols
If students have tested positive for Covid-19, they will be placed into isolation at a location designated by the College for a period of at least six days . Following six days of isolation, asymptomatic students and students whose symptoms are resolving and have been fever-free for 24 hours without the use of fever-reducing medication may be medically cleared from isolation and must wear a face covering for four additional days around others, whether on-campus or off-campus, to minimize the risk of infecting others. If students are symptomatic after six days, they must isolate for up to 10 days or until 24 hours after symptoms have disappeared, whichever occurs first. For any student cleared from isolation in less than 10 days, face coverings are required through the 10-day period.
While in isolation, students must remain in their private rooms except for use of a common bathroom, if isolating in a single room in a residence hall without a private bathroom, except when picking up meals at the designated location, and except for any breaks scheduled by the Covid-19 response team. Students will be monitored by medical staff using telehealth until they are cleared.
Will The University Specify Which Authorized Or Licensed Vaccine Is Preferred
The University concurs that all EUA-authorized vaccines are safe and very effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 and in decreasing the odds of hospitalization and death, and being infectious. Therefore, the University recommends that as many people as possible across the University system be vaccinated as soon as possible. As stated by the CDC, the best vaccine is the one that you are eligible to receive and that you can get today.
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Are There Any Exceptions Or Exemptions To The Booster Mandate
Students who previously received a religious exception or medical exemption to the vaccine mandate will not be required to provide further documentation to be exempted from the booster mandate. Those with provisional or time-limited medical exemptions that are no longer valid may reapply if those conditions still pertain and should do so by February 4, 2022. Otherwise, they will have to comply with the vaccine and booster mandate.
What Employees Need To Know
- Eligibility for boosters begins two months after the Janssen J& J vaccination and five months after completion of the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccination series. Consult your healthcare provider for recommendations on which booster is best for you.
- Employees must obtain a booster within 30 days of their eligibility, or within two weeks after returning to campus if their eligibility date has passed.
- Employees must then provide documentation of their COVID-19 vaccination booster to the portal using the link below.
- Questions about eligibility for exemptions should be directed to the Office of Human Resources.
All students, faculty, and staff who received a medical or religious exemption from the College for the COVID-19 vaccination are exempt from the booster requirement. These individuals will be required to wear a face mask at all times on campus except when alone in their offices, and undergo weekly COVID-19 tests.
Keuka Colleges decision is aligned with the recommendations of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. CDC guidelines regarding booster vaccinations can be found on the CDC website.
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What Colleges Require The Covid
Colleges across the U.S. are increasingly requiring COVID-19 vaccination for on-campus learning. Check out the full list of colleges that require the vaccine.
Published on October 11, 2021 ·
Editor’s Note: This article is updated regularly as new information becomes available. Reporting and data collection for this piece has been provided by Jessica Bryant, Anne Dennon, Darlene Earnest, Reece Johnson, Hannah Muniz, Rachel Schneider, and Jordan Stewart-Rozema.
A still-expanding group of U.S. colleges and universities say students must receive a COVID-19 vaccine before arriving on campus. The first institutions to announce the mandate were private, with Cornell University and Duke University leading the way. More and more universities, private and public, have followed suit. Currently, over 1,000 colleges and universities require the COVID-19 vaccine for residential students.
Most colleges already require on-campus students to be vaccinated against viral diseases like measles, mumps, and rubella. Government agencies suggest that schools may similarly require the COVID-19 shots.
Some state lawmakers and at least two lawsuits argued that inoculation can’t be made mandatory while the experimental vaccines retained their Emergency Use Authorization status, but full FDA approval of the mRNA-based Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine on August 23 has already triggered a surge of college COVID-19 vaccine mandates.
What Is A Religious Exemption For The Covid
Despite vaccination requirements at hundreds of colleges and universities for returning students, not everyone will end up getting the shots: Most of these schools are providing various exemptions to the rule, ranging from medical to religious and even philosophical reasons.
In New Jersey, a student need only voice a religious objection to vaccinations to bypass the requirement.
Its much more difficult to get out of a shot in Washington state, where Kuszler lives. You have to have a physician counsel you before you can argue you have a philosophical exemption, and theres no exemptions for measles, mumps and rubella, she said.
Most major religions do not categorically ban vaccinations, and religious exemptions tend to consider a vaccines ingredients, such as objections to pig components.
Because laws surrounding religious exemptions are vague, its easy for students to take advantage of them, said Eric Feldman, a professor of law, medical ethics and health policy at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School.
In many states, all one has to do is say the vaccine goes against their deeply held religious beliefs and they will qualify for the exemption, Feldman said, which is why some states have scrapped the exemption.
Maines Bowdoin College, where Covid-19 vaccination is required, is only offering students medical exemptions. Faculty and staff, though, can claim legitimate medical and religious opposition.
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Here Are The Massachusetts Colleges Requiring Students Staff To Get Covid
At least 65 of Massachusetts’ 107 largest colleges and universities will require their students to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before returning to campuses this fall. A smaller number at least 23, as of late July will require on-campus faculty and staff to be vaccinated as well.
Many of the published policies ask students to get and report their immunizations well before the start of the semester, some as early as July 1, as seen in the table below.
The trend indicates a level of concern among school leaders that this academic year with refilled campuses and a sense of relief could still play host to the kind of outbreaks that proved relatively rare in the last one.
In May, a state working group comprised of school leaders and physicians recommended that colleges aim for “as close to 100% vaccination rates as possible” before reopening this fall .
The group led by Paula Johnson, president of Wellesley College, and a cardiologist wrote, “Each institution will need to decide the best way to maximize vaccination percentages on their own campuses.” But they did draw on past studies of influenza vaccines, showing that only mandates tended to get health care workers to immunization rates of 90% or higher.
“What you’re seeing is schools following the data,” said Rob McCarron, who served on the working group.