UC, CSU to require shots for students
Plans call for vaccination for in-person instruction this fall, pending full approval by FDA
The California State University and University of California systems are moving forward with plans to require students, faculty and staff to be vaccinated against the coronavirus before on-campus instruction begins this fall.
The new directives come as universities and businesses across the country grapple with how to safely reopen in coming months.
CSU said Thursday it intends to require those accessing campus facilities to be immunized, pending full approval and availability of at least one of the vaccines by the Food and Drug Administration. The vaccines currently in use have received emergency use authorization and are expected to be fully approved in the coming months.
“Prior to the implementation of any changes to the CSU’s existing immunization requirements,
the CSU will engage the California State Student Association, the CSU Academic Senate and labor unions,” the system said in a statement, adding that exemptions would be allowed for medical and religious reasons.
Cal State Student Association President Zahraa Khuraibet said the organization has not taken an official stance on the idea, but is meeting soon to get a better understanding of whether students are in favor of a requirement.
In the meantime, Khuraibet said, “we’ve been encouraging our students to get the vaccine.”
UC outlined a similar proposal, adding that “UC already strongly encourages students, faculty, academic appointees and staff to voluntarily obtain a vaccination as soon as they are eligible and able to schedule an appointment.”
UC Student Association President Aidan Arasasingham said the vaccination requirement “makes sense” when it comes to returning to in-person instruction and is broadly supported by students as long as the system is attentive to concerns about equity.
“Not all students have the same level of access or trust,” the UCLA student said.
Both Khuraibet and Arasasingham said the systems had been in touch with their respective student groups ahead of the announcement.
Jamie S. Ceman, Chapman University’s vice president of strategic marketing and communications said Thursday that the university strongly encourages, but does not currently mandate a COVID-19 vaccine for students, faculty or staff.
“We are closely monitoring guidance from state and local health authorities and gathering input from our community as we make plans for fall, but right now we are not mandating it,” Ceman said.
Stanford on Thursday also said it plans to require all students coming to campus in the fall to be fully vaccinated. Exemptions will be allowed, but unvaccinated people must undergo regular COVID-19 testing. The university said it was “continuing to evaluate the vaccination situation for faculty and staff.”
CSU’s decision Thursday reversed course after earlier this month the system said it would not require people to be vaccinated, telling this news organization, “Upon advice from the CSU Office of General Counsel, and in extensive consultation with counsel at other institutions of higher education throughout the country, the CSU has determined that it is not able to require all employees and students to receive a COVID-19 vaccine as a condition of maintaining employment or enrollment.”
A spokesperson called the situation dynamic and said the previous position “was the guidance from the Chancellor’s Office to the campuses with respect to a vaccine requirement for all students.”
But with the increasing vaccination of California residents, expanded availability to those over 16 and improvements to access, along with the potential for FDA approval soon, the spokesperson said, “we are communicating now that we would seek to implement a requirement under the caveats detailed in the announcement.”
The UC and CSU systems enroll and employ more than a million students and workers across 33 campuses throughout the state.
“This is the most comprehensive and consequential university plan for COVID-19 vaccines in the country,” CSU Chancellor Joseph Castro said in a statement Thursday.
Michael Drake, UC president and a medical doctor, said in a statement the vaccine will help bring students back to campus.
“Receiving a vaccine for the virus that causes COVID-19 is a key step people can take to protect themselves, their friends and family, and our campus communities,” he said, “while helping bring the pandemic to an end.”