In late 2019 the media began reporting on a mysterious illness that was taking lives in China. Before long, in March 2020, the entire world knew about the SARS-CoV-2, a variety of coronavirus that resulted in the disease we know as COVID-19. Since that time, the disease has taken the lives of millions worldwide, and nearly 700,000 in the United States alone. Among other effects, the pandemic has taken its toll on the psyche of those who have been isolated in lockdown and it has created a toxic political environment. Further, the pandemic has had a devastating impact on the global economy, which is still reeling with supply chain and other issues.
The rates of infection and death have thankfully diminished due to the rise of effective vaccines which can either completely thwart the virus or dramatically diminish its impact for the infected person, though they are not 100%. The pandemic is thus far from over, but the rise of these ground-breaking vaccines has certainly brought it under control in ways that weren't possible prior to their widespread adoption.
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Once the COVID-19 pandemic became a reality, scientists, politicians, and public health officials scrambled for solutions. The disease was an existential threat to both individual and economic health, so the pressure to develop a vaccine was immense. Politicians were eager to have a vaccine as soon as possible, which posed an enormous challenge for scientists and the existing paths toward vaccine acceptance.
Thankfully, there was precedent for the SARS-CoV-2 virus. After all, it is a coronavirus, which was already familiar to scientists. In fact, the so-called common cold is a variety of coronavirus. However, the new variant posed unique challenges. Some researchers decided that they needed a way to tell the body how to recognize and respond to the virus' spike proteins, a new adaptation that allowed this novel virus to be more contagious than some previous coronaviruses . Normally they might produce mass quantities of the proteins and use them in the vaccination shots. Unfortunately, that would take entirely too long. Not only were people dying in huge numbers, but there were political and other forces urging for a fast solution.
Rather than attempt to produce the spike proteins on the scale needed, researchers decided to teach the body to recognize the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein using mRNA instructions, a new technique. Essentially, they tricked the body into creating the spike protein which would then trigger the immune system to fight it. This ingenious solution enabled pharmaceutical companies to bring the vaccinations up to scale and then roll them out for people all over the world in record time.
Vaccination has long been a necessary part of life. To attend school, students have been mandated to receive a battery of vaccinations in nearly every state in the US. Travelers are also familiar with mandated vaccination, as they are required when they wish to visit countries in Africa and elsewhere. Even colleges have required that students have up-to-date vaccinations for a range of communicable diseases that can wreak havoc on a college campus. Vaccination is also a routine part of the workaday world. Tradespeople, who are prone to injury on the job, are frequently required to receive a tetanus vaccine prior to working on a jobsite.
Due to mandatory vaccinations, many diseases have been contained and virtually eradicated. For instance, polio is all but unheard of in the United States. However, it is still prevalent throughout Africa, the Eastern Mediterranean, and even China, where healthcare systems are sometimes weak and anti-vaccination sentiment overrules safety measures.
Vaccine mandates date back to the 1850's, when Massachusetts schools began requiring smallpox vaccination for all students. The mandated vaccines were so effective that, within fifty years, half of all states adopted the same mandate. As the 20th century progressed, so did the march of vaccine mandates. New vaccines were developed, and new diseases arose which demanded treatment.
In the 1960's, measles was rampant. The disease was so prevalent that, prior to the vaccine, nearly every single child was infected with the virus at some point. Each year, the virus would claim up to 500 children, hospitalize 48,000, and cause encephalitis (swelling of the brain) in around 1,000. It took until 1963 for researchers to develop an effective solution to the constant infections. That vaccine was improved in 1968, and there has been no need for further development since the vaccine is so widely distributed. However, in 1989, there was a new outbreak of the disease, which prompted a new round of vaccination. The booster shot proved effective and the disease was finally considered eradicated from the United States in the year 2000.
Thanks to mandatory vaccinations, many other diseases have also been eradicated, or nearly eradicated, in the United States including polio, smallpox, rubella, pertussis, mumps, and more.
Vaccines for COVID-19 have, so far, proven to be incredibly effective. In areas where vaccine adoption has been dense, the disease is well in hand. Nevertheless, it continues to spread and mutate, and cities with high rates of vaccination are sometimes being flooded with ailing people from outside of their region. As a result, even those hospitals are reporting that ICU admissions are primarily for COVID-19 sufferers who have refused the vaccine. They also report that current death rates are heavily weighted towards those who are opposed to the vaccines and thus remain unvaccinated. Still, the rates of hospitalization and death are off the charts, and hospitals are, at times, having to refuse treatment to non-COVID patients in lieu of those who need immediate aid due to COVID.
In an effort to contain the deadly and debilitating disease, businesses and some governments have responded with vaccine mandates, just like those requiring students to get the measles vaccine to attend public school, college students to be tested for TB, etc. President Joe Biden has mandated vaccines for federal employees, federal contractors, and healthcare workers who work in facilities that receive federal funds. An additional 80 million US workers are also mandated to take the vaccine, though they can choose bi-weekly testing to ensure that they don’t bring COVID into the workplace.
So far, legal challenges to these mandates have failed. After all, employers are free to insist on vaccinations, dress codes, and other normative behaviors as a condition of employment, especially as at-will employment continues to be the norm. While some vaccine resistors can lay claim to religious exemptions, they need to make very strong arguments with factual support.
Colleges have also mandated vaccination for their students. However, these efforts are rather uneven. Since public universities are subject to the prevailing politics of the state, some colleges have required proof of vaccination, while others have not. Private colleges and universities are typically immune to these political inconsistencies and they are free to mandate the vaccine if they choose, though, in these cases, it’s up to the ruling body of the school.
As time goes on, it's believed by many that more institutions, including colleges and universities, will choose to insist on vaccination. After all, students are already mandated to receive vaccination for other diseases and, now that the FDA has granted full approval of a COVID vaccine option, there is less and less reason not to require vaccination for a disease which has killed hundreds of thousands in the US alone.
College students across the nation are at a collective crossroads, it seems. Some colleges and universities are mandating vaccination as a condition of enrollment, while others are not. Some state governments have gone so far as to forbid their publicly funded institutions of higher learning from mandating the public health measures.
Since the situation is still relatively new, there are many possible outcomes. Students on either side of the vaccine debate could bring lawsuits that challenge vaccination rules. Generally speaking, most of the legal challenges have come from those who refuse to take the vaccine. Their arguments usually rest on grounds that range from religious belief to quasi-scientific reasoning. Colleges and other institutions that do not mandate COVID-19 vaccines may someday find that so-called long COVID sufferers also have legal grounds to bring a suit if they feel that they were not protected by their educational institution. This is because those who have recovered from the disease sometimes have intense immune responses when exposed to the virus. They can incur symptoms that include organ damage, kidney stones, and long-COVID. If they were in an environment that mandated vaccines, they would not be at such high risk for these injuries. This may give more educational institutions pause as they consider the future outcomes of their students.
Essentially, COVID-19 is far from a settled issue. Since the disease and its treatment has been turned into a political football, state rules and mandates could change from election cycle to election cycle. There could be new court cases that overturn rules or strengthen them. Meanwhile, college students are in the middle, doing their best to receive an education that can help them succeed in life.
Thus, college students are urged to not only take a close and honest look at the vaccine issue, but to investigate the policies at their school. Prospective students in particular should include COVID-19 policies as part of their research into which school to attend, along with other factors such as accreditation. Not only should a college or university provide the degree programs they desire, but they should also be comfortable with the varying degrees of risk posed by the institution's vaccine policies.
Most colleges and universities already require vaccination for diseases such as mumps, rubella, tetanus, hepatitis, and more. Vaccination has also been a part of international travel for decades, so vaccines being important to travel is nothing new either. The COVID-19 vaccine does rely on relatively new medical technology, which has given some pause. It's thus important to review a range of sources to determine what course of action is best. You can also choose to take a vaccine that relies on older technology but can still offer protection. Be aware that many sources skew their reporting to suit a political agenda, which should be distinct from those that reflect the relevant scientific research.
Here is a list of colleges and universities by state that are requiring coronavirus vaccinations ((B) indicates requiring the booster shot. List of colleges is courtesy of University Business):
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