Samuel Scarpino in Forbes: Will Schools’ Requirement That Students Be Fully Vaccinated Against Covid Further Oppress Marginalized Students?
As colleges and universities break for summer, many are also preparing to welcome students back in the fall and making the proper provisions for continuing the fight against Covid-19. One of the most recent precautions that some institutions have made is the requirement that students be fully vaccinated before returning to campus in the fall. Over the past month, only a handful of colleges and universities announced their new Covid vaccination policies, and now a growing list of other colleges have decided to follow suit. But this requirement has not come without controversy. Some are beginning to ask about accommodations that can be made for students who cannot get vaccinated due to religious or medical reasons. Or students who have opted not to take the vaccine as a personal choice.
Yet and still, most medical experts continue to push for the vaccine and argue that getting vaccinated is the only way students can safely return to school and the fastest way for Americans to return to their everyday “normal” lives. “What most of us want is a safe return to something that looks more normal. That to me means 80% to 85%, vaccination,” says Samuel Scarpino, who follows the coronavirus outbreak at Northeastern University.