Though many San Jose State community members anticipate the return to campus Aug. 19, some students vary in whether they support the coronavirus vaccination requirement.
In an SJSU town hall meeting Monday, President Mary Papazian said the vaccination policy, which was enacted by the California State University (CSU) system, requires all staff, faculty and students to be fully vaccinated by Sept. 30.
Papazian stated in a July 27 campuswide email that in order for SJSU students to fulfill the CSU’s vaccination requirement, vaccination status must be reported in a COVID-19 Vaccine Self-Certification form on the Student Health Center Patient Portal.
The self-certification form must be followed up by evidence submission, including a photocopy of the vaccination card.
Business senior Joshua Guray said he feels more comfortable returning to campus with the vaccination policy in place.
“I just went to Vegas and they had a ‘no need for masks if you’re vaccinated policy’ and I know damn well a lot of people weren’t honoring that,” Guray said in an Instagram message. “Knowing SJSU is requiring [COVID-19 vaccination] makes me feel a lot safer.”
Papazian stated in Friday campuswide email if students, faculty and staff choose to receive the Moderna vaccine, they must get the first dose by Aug. 19 in order to be fully vaccinated by the deadline.
The deadline for the first Pfizer dose is Aug. 26 and the single-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine must be completed by Sept. 16.
In Monday’s town hall meeting, Papazian said about 60% of students have submitted vaccination certification and 94% of students have attested to being vaccinated.
Vaccines await full FDA approval
Joseph Castro, California State University (CSU) chancellor, initially stated in an April 22 news release the CSU system intended to require COVID-19 vaccination upon complete Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of one or more vaccines.
The COVID-19 vaccines are authorized for emergency use and are not yet fully FDA approved, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Vaccines & Immunizations webpage.
FDA approval of a drug means data on the drug's effects has been reviewed by the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research and is determined to provide benefits that outweigh its known and potential risks, according to the FDA Development & Approval Process webpage.
An electrical engineering senior, who wished to be referred to as Neo for privacy concerns, said the COVID-19 vaccine's lack of an FDA approval raises his concern regarding the vaccine requirement.
“It's like we're just being experimented on,” Neo said. “I think to mandate students at universities to take the vaccine is taking a risk.”
Neo said the COVID-19 vaccines’ novelty and unknown long-term health effects, including possible effects to fertility, are disconcerting and should mean vaccination is optional.
“I think [the vaccination requirement] is with good intention but I feel like it's also not the right decision,” Neo said. “A lot of us, we’re young. We still want to have kids . . . I think it's like you're kind of rolling the dice.”
The CDC maintains that the COVID-19 vaccines have been evaluated in clinical trials with “tens of thousands of participants” and have met scientific standards of safety, effectiveness and manufacturing quality necessary to support emergency use, according to the CDC Vaccines webpage.
The FDA anticipates fully approving the Pfizer vaccine by the end of September, according to an Aug. 3 New York Times article.
Final FDA approval could help increase vaccination rates, mute misinformation about the vaccines’ safety and lower case rates caused by the Delta variant, according to the same Aug. 3 New York Times article.
COVID-19 variants cause concern
SJSU physician Dr. Barbara Fu said the Delta variant, which was first identified in India, is reason for concern and evolving policies including the updated vaccination requirement.
Santa Clara County is reporting a seven-day average of 372 new cases and hospitalizations and deaths continue to rise, according to a Sunday New York Times Coronavirus map and case count.
The Delta variant is responsible for more than 83% of COVID-19 cases currently reported in the U.S. and the number is expected to surge as it’s two times more transmissible than the variant that originated in Wuhan, China, according to a July 30 American Society for Microbiology article.
“We're seeing new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 [COVID-19] virus, such as the Delta variant, that can spread more easily and is believed to cause more severe disease,” Fu said during the town hall meeting. “With the increasing number of cases around us, this really required us to change some of our strategies to help keep our community safer.”
The Delta variant is more likely to cause severe illness including hospitalization than the other variants in unvaccinated individuals, according to the CDC Your Health webpage.
Vaccinated people who get infected by the Delta variant can also spread the virus to others, according to the same CDC webpage.
While masks were initially outlined to be required for unvaccinated individuals, Papazian said the university will follow the Santa Clara County mask mandate that took effect Aug. 3, requiring face coverings indoors regardless of vaccination status.
Accounting junior Tim Freitag said he would be more apprehensive about his first semester as a transfer student on campus if it weren’t for the vaccination and mask requirements.
“Basically, the more precautions they take, the more comfortable I am coming back to campus,” Freitag said.
Exemptions and testing policies
Students who choose not to get the vaccine because of religious or medical restrictions can provide documentation for exemption in the self-certification form, according to the SJSU Health Advisories website.
Medical exemptions are granted to those with conditions that put them at significant risk for a serious adverse reaction to any U.S. approved vaccine, according to the self-certification form.
“These [exemption] documents will be reviewed by the verification team,” Fu said. “For persons who have approved exemptions and are not vaccinated, there will be additional safety measures required to access campus facilities.”
These guidelines include physically distancing, wearing masks and participating in routine COVID-19 testing procedures, Fu said.
She said unvaccinated campus members will be required to partake in semester entry testing events, which will be held on Mondays and Wednesdays at the event center for the first two full weeks of classes starting Aug. 23.
“Afterwards, there will be follow-up surveillance testing done on a weekly basis,” Fu said.
Unvaccinated students will be alerted to their COVID-19 testing dates two weeks before the tests take place.
Papazian said similar policies will be in place for university employees who fail to self-attest vaccination through a vaccination verification program.
“SJSU is finalizing plans for a required testing program for employees who have not indicated they are fully vaccinated,” Papazian stated in the July 27 campuswide email.
The California Faculty Association (CFA), a labor union of tenure-track faculty, lecturers, librarians, counselors and coaches, voiced support of campus employee vaccination in a July 27 Instagram post.
“I am vaccinated, and I encourage faculty to get vaccinated if they can so that we all do our part to make the CSU a safe place to work,” CFA President Charles Toombs said in the post.
Neo said he’s in the process of requesting a medical exemption and if it fails, he will also pursue a religious exemption.
Students seeking religious exemptions can report their beliefs, observances or practices that prevent them from vaccinating in the self-certification form.
According to the SJSU Health Advisories website, exemptions won’t be accepted for those living in on-campus housing as “residing in University Housing is a choice, not a requirement.”
Unvaccinated students
Students who aren’t vaccinated will be limited in co-curricular experiences including using the Student Recreation and Aquatic Center and attending university sporting events and course field trips, according to the SJSU Health Advisories website.
Unvaccinated students looking to fund clubs or intramural sports with Associated Students funding will also be limited, according to the same SJSU website.
Patrick Day, SJSU’s vice president of student affairs, said students who remain unvaccinated without exemption after Oct. 1 will face consequences including dropped classes.
“If [students] are simply not responding to what they've been asked to do, then we will begin to move into a space on October 1 where students’ classes will be dropped and they will not be able to access facilities,” Day said during Monday’s town hall meeting.
Academic record holds are also a consequence for noncompliance with the vaccine requirement, according to the SJSU Health Advisories website.
Day said students exempt from vaccination who don’t participate in testing protocols will receive a warning letter.
But if the conduct continues, students will also face dropped classes and loss of access to facilities, he said.
Neo said if his requests for exemption fail, he’d take more serious steps to remain unvaccinated.
“I would honestly try to transfer schools because I am really not comfortable with getting [the vaccine] right now,” Neo said. “It sucks because I'm about to finish my degree too. It's literally the worst, worst timing.”
