The California State University Chancellor Joseph Castro addressed whether the coronavirus vaccines will be required for students, staff and faculty during a student media Zoom conference Monday.
In the conference, Castro said CSU campuses will have 50% of classes in person during the Fall 2021 semester.
However, because COVID-19 guidelines and cases vary across counties, he said the final decision regarding the percentage of in-person classes will be determined on a campus-to-campus basis.
Castro said it’s too early to make a final decision about whether a COVID-19 vaccine will be required to return to campus. He said he’s focusing on avoiding the legal issues of a vaccine mandate, but instead encourages students and employees to get vaccinated on their own will.
“There may be some students, who for different reasons, decide they don’t wish to be vaccinated,” Castro said in the conference. “I’m going to respect that and really focus on trying to get as many people vaccinated as possible and to plan accordingly for [Fall 2021].”
Some San Jose State students think the decision to vaccinate should be a personal choice.
Business administration sophomore Balu Peduru said he doesn’t trust the vaccine because of its novelty.
He also believes that a significant portion of the campus community would choose to get the vaccine, allowing a number of people to remain unvaccinated.
“I feel like most people are gonna be taking it anyway so herd immunity will probably be there even if it’s not required in school,” Peduru said in a phone call.
According to the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC), herd immunity is present when a high number of individuals become immune to a disease by either infection or vaccination.
Because of the novelty of COVID-19, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) does not yet know what percentage of the population will have to be vaccinated in order to reach herd immunity.
Other students said campuses won't return to normal without total vaccination.
In order for campuses to reopen, “At least majority, like 75% [of people on campus] should be vaccinated,” psychology junior Isabela Paniagua said in a phone call. “The [remaining] 25% should still continue to try to get vaccinated so in the end everyone is vaccinated.”
Paniagua said she believes campus community members should not be exempt from a vaccination unless they have a medical reason such as allergies or a propensity to adverse reactions.
“It’s just leeway for [people] who are uneducated about vaccines,” Paniagua said. “We should be past [that mentality] by now.”
Kinesiology senior Christopher Okonji said he believes all SJSU students should be vaccinated before classes resume, and further precautions should be taken to ensure the safety of everyone returning to campus.
“They [SJSU] need on-campus testing,” Okonji said in a phone call. “They need to be able to figure out successful ways to have students come into the actual classroom where they feel safe.”
Castro said some CSU campuses will most likely follow Cal State Los Angeles and become COVID-19 testing sites for their counties in the upcoming days.
He also said the CSU system is applying for federal funds that would provide cleaning equipment and other campus-related maintenance.
Even though there are details of the fall semester that remain unknown, Castro said each campus will strive to accommodate its students who wish to stay off campus.
“It’s a time, as we’ve been throughout this pandemic, to be flexible and reasonable and compassionate,” Castro said.“That’s how we’ll proceed for the fall as well.”
