U of M vaccine mandate
Requirement will be in place once shot receives full FDA approval — coming as soon as Monday for Pfizer.
Monday will mark the return of almost all students to the University of Memphis campus amid the ongoing spread of COVID-19, which, in recent weeks, has overwhelmed local hospitals and led to a renewed countywide masking mandate.
The U of M has put precautions in place to mitigate the danger of the fast-spreading delta variant but a new development in the FDA approval process might soon lead the school to take further action.
U of M President M. David Rudd had earlier said that a vaccine mandate would not go into effect due to legislation preventing the university from treating the emergency authorized vaccines the same way as required immunizations.
“Once the CDC provides full authorization, as is the case for the other vaccines, we will absolutely pursue (mandating COVID vaccines),” he said. “My guess is once (full approval) occurs, it will be more difficult at the legislative level to disallow mandatory vaccinations simply because we have mandatory vaccinations in a number of areas.”
Friday evening, the New York Times reported that the FDA aimed to provide full authorization to the Pfizer vaccine by Monday, possibly paving a way for Rudd’s mandate to be pursued. At the latest, the agency set Labor Day as its final deadline.
Asked to react to the news, Rudd said: “If in fact the vaccine is authorized within the coming week, we will be pursuing the issue, in coordination with the state immediately.”
What is U of M doing in the meantime?
While the approval process — and subsequent policy decisions — play out, the U of M will rely on a bevy of precautions in place, along with offering convenient ways to improve vaccination rates.
Rudd said on-campus vaccinations will be available each Thursday on the first floor of the University Center. Either Pfizer or Moderna vaccines will be available for free, and without a required appointment, for those interested.
Rudd also said the recently approved booster, a third dose of one’s relative vaccine, will be available during the third week of September.
University guidelines, including masking and social distancing, are going to be strictly enforced upon students’ arrival as well.
“We have a university policy, and if you choose not to cooperate and follow university procedures, we have the capacity to remove you from our campus,” Rudd said. “This problem is manageable. If everyone in our community would pursue vaccination, that is very clearly the best step to take. I would also encourage everyone to follow the health and safety protocols that we have in place.”
For those students who are unsure about the safety of an in-person experience, some professors may offer hybrid classes. However, this would be at the discretion of each individual professor and hybrid classes are not ensured by the university.
Classes that are currently set to be inperson will remain that way as well.
“We’re not moving courses. We’re moving forward and doing what was originally published when the schedule was published last year,” Rudd said.
A dashboard on the university’s website will be updated weekly with information for students, staff and faculty to view. The dashboard includes current data about coronavirus cases on campus, but the university has been unable to attain accurate numbers about vaccination rates on campus.
“We’re going to continue to work on surveying students,” Rudd said. “Realistically, for those numbers to be accurate and meaningful, you have to have response rates that are remarkably high, in the 85 to 90% range. Our response rates have been around 10% or 12%. They’re just not meaningful. It’s just very difficult to get people to respond to those kinds of surveys, particularly when it’s about individual health.”
Lucas Finton is a news intern with the Commercial Appeal. He can be reached at lucas.finton@commercialappeal.com and followed on Twitter @Lucasfinton.