This fall, both the nation’s largest university systems are planning to get the Covid-19 shots for faculty, students, and all the staff members of California State University and the University of California.
California’s Public Universities Is Planning To Get The Vaccines For Staff
Several U.S universities and colleges are planning to make the vaccine shots mandatory. This is to bring back the normal campus life after the online classes and studies for months. The largest 23-campus California State University and the 10-campus University of California announced vaccines on Thursday. The CSU system has almost tens of thousands of staff and 485,000 students which is nations one of the biggest colleges along with UC who has almost 280,000 students.
CSU Chancellor Joseph I. Castro said that both the universities with 33 major campuses had almost one million employees and students, and together they have planned for vaccination which is one of the most widespread and important plans for COVID-19.
Similarly, on Thursday the Stanford University has also announced the mandatory vaccine administration for their 19,000 students before the fall when colleges might start. Private schools have also made an exception for the students who have an approved vaccination exemption but they will be required to get tested regularly. Similar exceptions would be allowed by the other two public university systems.Â
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted the use of the vaccines, Pfizer and Moderna in emergency cases. The health experts are expecting formal approval for at least one of the vaccine doses by Autumn. There is a pause in Johnson & Johnson vaccine administration due to the blot clot side effect.
Toni Molle who is a CSU spokeswoman said that the mandate will depend on the FDA. It depends on the authorization to at least one dose of vaccines and also on the labor associations. It can come prior to or after the classes start that in the fall. She said that they are announcing it sooner so that people have time and can get the vaccines before the fall when classes may start and when the policy will come into effect.
Main guidance and activities will be in person in fall 2021, expected by the two systems. The statement states that the planning for the COVID-19 vaccine demand will repopulate the campuses. The University of California also mentioned that if the students want to be on campuses then they would either require the report that states they have taken vaccines or a medical exemption if they have not taken one.
The system said that if they will encounter any student or staff not follow the rules then they might be barred from the public programs and facilities including university housing.
Across the country, the universities are trying their best t get the students vaccinated. Universities like Cornell, Brown, Rutgers, and Northeastern have recently informed their students to get vaccines before attending colleges in the fall. They hope to get immunity in herds so that they would not require to follow the spacing instructions in all the places on campus.
Although some of the colleges are leaving the decisions on students and also think that they cannot force students legally to get vaccines.
Many schools have launched blitzes on students to get the vaccine dose before they leave for summer.
Many northeastern and other colleges believe that they are on solid legal ground and have acquired vaccine shots. This has not happened for the first time or is not unusual for the colleges to require the students to get vaccines for a disease. The University of California system required a flu shot last year.