American colleges and universities hope to return to pre-COVID life in the fall. Some schools are appealing to students to get the vaccine, but others are asking if they may need it legally or legally.
Colleges and universities planning to return to personal tutoring have launched campaigns to get students vaccinated before the summer.
Universities, including Rutgers, Brown, Cornell and Northeastern, recently told students they need to be vaccinated before going back to class in the fall. They hope to achieve it herd immunity among the student population. They believe it will enable them to lift space restrictions.
‘It takes any away ambiguity about whether individuals should be vaccinated, ”said Kenneth Henderson. He is the principal of Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts.
He added that to make sure students are vaccinated, the surrounding city or town will say that ‘we all take appropriate measures. ”
Northeastern and other colleges that need shots believe they have the right to demand that students be vaccinated. It is not uncommon for colleges to require students to be vaccinated for other illnesses. Last year, a court imposed a flu requirement on the University of California.
Leave the decision to students
However, some colleges believe that they do not legally need vaccinations and leave the decisions to students.
Officials at Virginia Tech University say they cannot legally use the vaccine because it has not been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The FDA has approved only some vaccines for emergency use in the US
Legal experts believe that the approval of the use of COVID-19 vaccines makes a legal claim more likely. And some colleges may not need the vaccine to avoid legal trouble.
Glenn Cohen, professor of law at Harvard, teaches health law and bioethics. He argued there is no legal reason why colleges are not allowed to require COVID-19 vaccinations. It makes no difference that the shots were not fully approved, he said.
The problem is that there is no federal law or court decision that helps colleges and universities decide how to proceed.
Other legal issues
The biggest problems could occur in countries that already ban or intend to ban any vaccine requirements, Cohen said.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis this month banned all businesses from requiring anyone to show proof of vaccination. The order is causing problems for Nova Southeastern University in Florida. It plans to require students, teachers and professors to be vaccinated. The college president said he would “respect the laws of our state and all federal regulations.”
Texas also has a ban on vaccine requirements.
And then there are other problems for schools that need the vaccine. According to federal law, colleges must cooperate with any student who refuses a vaccine for medical or religious reasons. There is also no generally accepted evidence of vaccination documents.
At Northeastern, officials are still deciding whether students will be asked to show some sort of vaccine record or just be asked if they have been vaccinated.
“We would expect students to be honest,” Henderson said.
American colleges are also struggling with what they can expect from international students. Some may not have access to vaccines in their home countries. And some may not have access to vaccines approved for emergency use in the US
Several colleges say they plan to make shots available to international students when they get there.
Northeast student Tyler Lee said he thinks vaccination is the right step because it can help prevent the spread of the virus and protect the community. Students agree with the decision, he said.
“It’s Northeastern’s decision,” Tyler Lee said. ‘If I did not like it, I would transmission. And that is what most students feel, ”he added.
I’m Susan Shand.
Associated Press reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it to learn English. Hai Do was the editor.
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Words in this story
herd immunity – n. herd immunity is a form of protection against infectious diseases when a large percentage of a population is immune to an infection, whether through vaccination or previous infections, which reduces the likelihood of infection for individuals who do not have immunity.
ambiguity – n. something that does not have a single clear meaning
appropriate – adj. right or suitable for some purpose or situation
bioethics – a. the study of the ethical issues arising from advances in biology and medicine.
transmission – v. moving to another school
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