How McGill’s Vaccine Protocols Stack Up
How McGill compares to other Canadian universities
Note: the f ig ures cited in this article are current as of September 17. Due to the rapidly-chang ing nature of public health g uidelines and case numbers, the following information may not be entirely up-to-date.
Public health g uidelines vary from province to province, as do universities’ requirements for attending school on campus. To get an idea of how McGill’s COVID g uidelines stack up against other large universities, the Daily has analyzed the COVID precautions of large universities across Canada.
UCase Tracking
niversities’ policies concerning the report of COVID cases on campus vary widely; some universities provide students with a week-by-week case count, while others do not report case counts at all. McGill makes their case tracker publicly available, as do the Université de Montréal (UdeM), the University of Toronto (UofT), and the University of Alberta (UofA).
However, the information included in case trackers varies from school to school. McGill’s website claims that all reported positive cases are included in case-tracking f ig ures, but cla rif ies that cases are only considered a result of communit y tra nsmission if 1) the virus is found in t wo or more students who have been in the same class or a rea within t he past 14 days, a nd 2) the cases “a re not expla inable by another epidemiolog ica l orig in.” Some students claim that McGill’s contact tracing is not thorough enough, and have created Google Forms i n order to track cases themselves. Likewise, McGill’s contact-tracing guidelines were subject to criticism from students last Fall, when students claimed that their positive test results were not being included in McGill’s overall case count.
UdeM a nd Uof A a lso cla im to include ever y positive test result which is reported to them in their fig ures, but do not disting uish between individual cases of COVID-19 and instances of community transmission. While UofT makes note of “outbreaks on campus” – that is, community transmissions – in their case tracker, they do not specif y what counts as an outbreak.
Some universities, such as Concordia University, X University (formerly known as Ryerson University), and the University of British Columbia (UBC), do not make case counts publicly available whatsoever. At these institutions, students are made aware of COVID cases if they were in close contact with the infected individual within the 14 days leading up to their test; universities have cited concerns about sharing personal health information to justify withholding case numbers. At UBC, a student-run website tracks cases by compiling the notices which students receive after a possible exposure to the virus – however, reporting from the Ubyssey indicates that UBC administrators claim that they cannot verify the data on this site in the interest of protecting “patient confidentiality.”
On-Campus Guidelines
McGill, Concordia, and UdeM all require st udents to wear masks when indoors, but socia l dista ncing is not enforced in classrooms. Because the Quebec government currently does not include postsecondar y educationa l i nstit utions a mong its desig nated test ing cent res, these universit ies a re not distributing COV ID test s. In contrast, UofA, UBC, Uof T, unvaccinated indiv idua ls to be tested f requently. While each of these schools require masks to
Some universities provide students with a week-byweek case count, while others do not report case
counts at all.
Universities have cited concerns about sharing personal health
information to justify withholding
case numbers.
be tested frequently. While each of these schools require masks to be worn indoors, UofA is the only one which requires students to remain two metres apart while in classrooms due to stricter public health g uidelines implemented after the Alberta government declared a state of emergency. UofA also recently implemented a vaccine mandate, joining Uof T and X Universit y in requiring proof of vaccination to enter school buildings.
Further, some universities require students as well as employees to complete a COVID self-assessment form before arriving on campus. Concordia, Uof T, X University, UofA, UdeM, and the Okanagen campus at
UBC all require students to submit health screenings daily; while McGill requires a similar screening for employees, students do not have to use the COVID-19 self assessment tool. Additionally, students at Concordia, UofA, and Uof T were required to complete a video module about COVID safet y prior to the beg inning of the Fall 2021 semester.
MAccommodations for Students
cGill has made it clea r t hat st udents a nd facult y a re expected to be present on ca mpus rega rdless of a ny safet y concerns they have – in a recent press conference with the Daily,
Deput y Provost Fabrice Labeau stated that safet y concerns were not a va lid reason to not at tend in-person school. UdeM, UBC, and UofA also expect st udents to be on campus. Concordia is using a hybrid model, though internationa l st udents claim they a re experiencing dif f icult y due to missing the in-person elements of t heir cla sses. However, Concordia has decided to make online cla sses a permanent f ix t ure a nd will continue to of fer them. Uof T and X Universit y have not t ra nsitioned to being f ully in-person, but a nticipate holding more classes i n person during the Winter 2022 semester.
McGill students who a re presenting with COVID19 symptoms or who have received positive test result s must complete the COVID-19 self-assessment form a nd selfisolate. A s some lect ures a re not recorded, and approximately 85 per cent of classes at McGill a re being conducted in person, it is unclea r how the Universit y expects st udents to comply with isolat ion protocol and pa r t icipate in school.
McGill has a lso stated that students who have been in contact with a “low-risk COV ID19” case will not be notif ied of potentia l exposure, pursua nt to Public Health protocol. Those who have been in medium-risk a nd high risk contact with a n infected indiv idua l a re not if ied. Montreal Public Health def ines medium-risk contact as an extended period (15 minutes or more) of close contact( less than two metres apart) wherein one or both individuals were not properly wearing their mask. High-risk contact occurs when individuals are in unmasked, “sustained physical contact” – for example, roommates or sexually-active partners are in high-risk contact when one party is infected.
UofA, UBC, UofT and X University
all provide rapid testing, and mandate unvaccinated individuals to be tested frequently.