COVID vaccination, masking, and choice

With the public evenly split on required COVID vaccinations for college students, more faculty and students urged their institutions to join the 600+ institutions that had done so, a group that changed daily as the Delta variant spreads and as institutions opened. The list accelerated as a result of the endorsement by Dr. Anthony Fauci for colleges and universities to mandate vaccinations, which was helped by the FDA approval of the Pfizer vaccine.

The vaccine for 16 and older youth goes by the name Comirnaty and many more institutions moved to require it, or mandate testing for non-vaccinated students. The University of Vermont spread word that 100% of its students are vaccinated - presumably a big plus for those who started classes in person this semester. By contrast, Duke University's heavily vaccinated campus reported hundreds of new cases and other North Carolina institutions reported equally high rates of infection. As the fall 2021 semester concluded, many institutions saw spikes in the number of cases on campus.

Supported by CDC research, more institutions initiated or reimposed mask mandates. The decision to tie federal funding to mandated vaccinations resulted in more universities adopting vaccination requirements. In addition, OSHA mandated that organizations with 100+ employees require vaccination or testing, which was immediately blocked by a federal appeals court ruling in Louisiana.  Regardless of the back and forth of mandates and legal challenges to them, progress is being made with stragglers at campuses with vaccination mandates. A survey of campuses concluded that where masking or vaccination was required students were generally more satisfied with their institution's response. These campus policy actions resulted in 74% of students receiving one vaccine dose and about 50% receiving two doses. The issue of COVID masking and vaccination mandates is a legal, public opinion, and community responsibility issue (and perhaps more). 

The California Public Employee Relations Board's decision to uphold the University of California system's mandate addressed the legal question of employee mandates by saying, "This potential catastrophe affected not just university employees, but also its students and the general public who may have needed to use university hospitals." Some state governments have discouraged or prohibited vaccination and mask mandates, with Mississippi an example regarding vaccinations; faculty opposition has risen in key southern states. The University of South Carolina supreme court upheld the university's mask mandate, reinforcing that universities can make decisions that supersede politics. Clemson University followed the court's action by implementing a mask mandate that averted a faculty walkout. Although angering faculty, Southern Methodist University's discontinuation of mask requirements allows faculty to impose their own requirement in their class meetings. Educators in Arizona filed a lawsuit to block the legislated ban on requiring masks and vaccination. Reports of a professor at University of Georgia quitting when a student refused to properly wear a mask as well as faculty demand throughout the University of Georgia system for a mask mandate and teaching alternatives highlight faculty concerns. Even conservative Liberty University (nearing 1,000 cases) entered a quarantine and several other institution updates reflect the moves toward greater caution. At the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill, students petitioned for the university to take a stricter stance on vaccination and other mitigation efforts while libertarian students at other campuses resist and other students assert religious exemption to vaccine mandates. Professors in Iowa and Georgia moved forward with their own mask mandates, citing labor law (Iowa) and hands-off government (Georgia) philosophy to justify their actions. It is clear that the purpose of anti-mask and anti-vaccination resistance and directives has been political rather than scientific, evidenced in regional variation on policies; the Federal Judge who blocked a vaccine mandate at a medical school in Louisiana (a state with one of the lowest vaccination and highest COVID infections rates) is sure proof. The politicking of COVID has created a contentious environment for campuses that educators hoped to avoid in returning to in-person instruction. The public opinion is split on vaccinations with 48% "for" versus 48% "against" but when segmented by politics, 86% of of Democrats are "for" versus 18% "for" among Republicans.

A College Pulse assessment of 1,001 students demonstrated strong support for both vaccination and masking. Seventy-two percent supported required vaccination but diverged by politics - 96% of Democrats and only 24% of Republicans, a demonstration of how the COVID pandemic response in the U.S.A. has been muddled by politics. In the light of having a solution to the pandemic, i.e. a very effective vaccine, it seems irrational to individually or collectively choose not to vaccinate. Of course, part of the problem is the changing scientific evidence in the face of the pandemic, resulting in evolving strategies composed of virtual learning formats, testing, vaccination, and masking, and even directives of how faculty can talk to students about the options. The community responsibility of organizations to mandate vaccination includes protecting individuals, communities, the economy, and the viability of the health systems on which we rely.

The ethical decision that those of us who are vaccinated, and support broader mandates, face is when to let those who resist go their own way and suffer the consequence. The Delta variant is already ravaging conservative political jurisdictions, with inevitable economic impact sure to follow.

The 2020 academic year saw a decline in both the number of students pursuing a higher education and being retained in their studies, which continued in 2021 figures. The common application figures for 2022 look more hopeful. Students appear to be somewhat nervous but hopeful about returning to campus for in-person instruction in 2021, with 90% of first-year students expressing optimism in one survey. There is some evidence that students may choose where to pursue their higher education this fall based on the degree to which institutions and their surrounding communities have managed pandemic mitigation. Survey responses of students indicate their general support for mitigation through masks and vaccinations and add that they are hesitant to return to full college social life. The evidence is unclear at this point but why wouldn't parents and students look at the likelihood of COVID outbreak when making a decision about where to go? Institutions such as Tulane University, situated in one of the least vaccinated and hardest hit states, is trying to convince new student prospects to join them with laudatory messages of high vaccination rates among its current faculty and students while indicting others by saying, "while the spread of COVID is currently higher in certain states, the vast majority of states throughout the country are experiencing 'substantial' and 'high' spread of the coronavirus, according to the CDC." Please, Tulane, give us a break - dragging down others in order to hold the line on your own enrollment!