The California State University (CSU) system, including San Jose State, announced its intent to require students, faculty and staff to be fully vaccinated for the coronavirus upon their Fall 2021 return to the 23 campuses in a Thursday news release.
Michael Uhlenkamp, senior director of CSU public affairs, said the requirement depends on whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approves one or more COVID-19 vaccines before the start of the Fall 2021 semester.
This development reverses an April 8 CSU news release that stated the university system wouldn’t be requiring the vaccine.
Uhlenkamp said the April 8 announcement stemmed from political and legal liabilities because the vaccines aren’t fully FDA approved yet, but there’s growing possibility that one or more will be approved by fall.
The Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are currently authorized for emergency use and haven’t undergone the same type of review as a cleared product, according to the FDA Emergency Authorization Use fact sheet.
FDA emergency use authorizations are issued when there are no adequate, approved and available alternatives.
“We have always reserved the ability to review and change our guidance based on new information,” Uhlenkamp said in an email. “We wanted to take the opportunity to announce our intentions early so that students and employees have ample time to receive a COVID-19 vaccination.”
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the FDA halted supplies of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine on April 13 after six women ages 18-48 experienced a rare complication of blood clots a few weeks after they received the vaccine.
Aisha Williams, an environmental science senior, said even if the vaccines become FDA approved, requiring them violates “free will” because the vaccines are politically controversial and lack long-term data.
“If [the CSU and SJSU] require it on a level where people can't attend these classes, even though they're required for you to graduate, it’s not fair,” Williams said in a phone call. “[Students] will have to give in to getting a vaccine that they probably didn't want.”
Aviation junior Victor Magallanes said it should be common sense by now that the vaccines are the fastest way to curb the pandemic and gain a “sense of normalcy.”
“You get a lot of people out there saying they want to get back to normal, but at the same time they say they don't want to get the vaccine,” Magallanes said in a phone interview.
Magallanes said he received his first dose of the Pfizer vaccine on April 21 and hopes the COVID-19 immunization requirement will get the SJSU community back on campus.
Uhlenkamp said the CSU does not currently have a method to confirm vaccination records of students, faculty and staff and therefore the vaccine requirement is part of a “still-to-be developed policy” moving forward.
Uhlenkamp said the chancellor's office will be sharing a COVID-19 immunization policy, which is currently in development, with the California State Student Association (CSSA), the CSU Academic Senate and various staff and faculty unions to “negotiate” the requirement.
The CSSA is a student-led organization that strives to improve the education of CSU students by advocating for their needs and promoting engagement in the CSU, state and federal higher education policymaking, according to its website.
SJSU President Mary Papazian stated in a Thursday campuswide email the CSU system will finalize the COVID-19 immunization policy before it implements any changes to the system’s existing immunization requirements.
CSU students, faculty and staff are already required to have immunizations including measles, Hepatitis B, chickenpox and Tuberculosis, according to the CSU Immunization Policy webpage.
It also recommends but doesn’t require immunization and screenings for Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, HPV, Influenza, Meningitis B and Polio, according to the same webpage.
The University of California (UC) system also announced its intent to require vaccinations in a Thursday news release.
CSU Chancellor Joseph Castro stated in the UC news release that together, the CSU and UC enroll and employ more than one million students and employees across 33 major university campuses. He said together they create the most “comprehensive and consequential” university plan for vaccines in the U.S.
As of April 15, all California residents 16 and older are vaccine eligible, according to an April 15 state government news release.
Williams said although she's been vaccine eligible for two months, the COVID-19 vaccines shouldn’t be “held at our necks.”
“I’ve just been waiting it out, seeing how folks around me are feeling because I'm not wanting to get vaccines,” Williams said. “I haven't even gotten the flu shot or the others. [As for COVID-19], I'm still trying to get more research on it until I do get it.”
Uhlenkamp said the CSU intends for most classes and activities to be in person for fall, but campus repopulation procedures will vary.
Papazian stated in the Thursday email that SJSU is still finalizing its plans to repopulate for next semester but will continue to “prioritize the health and safety of our campus community.”
