CS5 matches 5C shots mandate

will be 'sitting ducks’ if we allow them to return to campuses» unvaccinated?” the letter said.

The CSU announced in April it would wait for full approval before requiring vaccinations. But with fall classes right around the corner, an alarming spike in COVID19 cases and the fastspreading delta variant, “it only makes sense to implement this requirement now,” said Michael Uhlenkamp, a CSU spokesperson.

The announcement gives students and employees time to get vaccinated, as the CSU set a Sept. 30 deadline to either show proof of vaccination or apply for exemption on medical or religious grounds, Uhlenkamp said.

The University of California similarly reversed course last month, announcing that it would not wait for full FDA approval of vaccines to require all inperson employees and students get vaccinated. When the CSU did not follow suit, many were left wondering why.

“I think we were still holding out hope that there would be FDA approval,” Uhlenkamp said, but FDA approval before fall classes seemed more and more unlikely.

To Fresno State University political science professor Thomas Holyoke, it made no sense why the CSU couldn’t have matched the UC immediately.

Holyoke, who authored the letter with three of his colleagues at Fresno State, said the volume of support it received shows frustration with the CSU Chancellor’s Office and the Board of Trustees for dragging their feet on establishing a vaccine mandate.

While he’s pleased with Tuesday’s announcement, it may be too late for campuses that begin classes in August.

“Even if a person went right now to get your Pfizer or Moderna vaccine, it’s about six weeks before it’s fully effective and then the semester would have already started,” Holyoke said.

CSU will share a more detailed vaccination policy in coming days, which will include details on how the university system will handle medical and religious exemptions for vaccinations.

Even though the deadline to get vaccinated is Sept. 30, some campuses that are welcoming students for inperson classes in August have set vaccination deadlines sooner.

San Jose State announced that students must upload proof of vaccination or request medical or religious exemptions by Aug. 6.

Those who do not follow these guidelines may face “restrictions to participation in oncampus activities and housing,” according to the San Jose State website.

At San Francisco State, students and employees have until Aug. 13 to either request exemption or upload proof of vaccination. Those who qualify for exemptions may have to undergo weekly COVID19 testing on campus when classes begin, according to the San Francisco State website.

Cal State East Bay will give students and employees until Sept. 15 to allow more time for them to either get vaccinated or request an exemption, Kimberly Hawkins, a spokesperson at CSU East Bay, said in an email.