Is your freshman getting a booster to fulfill college requirement Fall 22?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The big deal is that there is no benefit for OP's kid, w/two shots and two covid infections. Only risk. Forcing it is unethical. There is no basis.

(See eg https://www.fda.gov/media/159007/download #38)

I agree (I'm not the pp you quoted, but I'm the first respondent at 16:41 yesterday.)
But schools made their position on the vaccine known before decision day (May 1.) As a pp noted, a few (like Rice and Vanderbilt) have actually walked back their requirement for a booster (I'm not aware of any schools that did NOT have a booster requirement on May 1, but have since mandated it.)

If it was important to someone to have a choice to not get the booster, they could have applied to many other schools that not only do not require the booster, but do not require the vaccine at all.

Yes! Colleges can set their requirements. You can choose not to attend if you don't want to follow it. Colleges have had vaccination reqs for decades. Some even require Meningitis B vax, others don't. My kid can't attend most universities without the whole slew of vaccinations, similar to what was required in K-12 as well. If you are a Health sciences major, you may have even more reqs. My DC is employed at a company involved in the Healthcare industry, and guess what, since they have to travel to "healthcare sites", they are required to get a TB test done (and follow up with treatment I'd assume if they happen to test positive). It's part of the job reqs. Don't like it, they can find another job. Similarly they are required to be up to date on all other vaccines, including covid and a booster. I for one would prefer anyone I might encounter in healthcare setting to be fully vaxed for all diseases.

+1 from college faculty. Families who don't work in higher ed, use your imagination about the human petri dish that is a college campus. Now multiply that by 100, stop washing your hands, and share your beverage with the 6 nearest people around you, even if you've never met them before. Even before covid, college students were sick *constantly*. Anything you can immunize against, do it, and any healthy behaviors you can promote (including basic things like nutrition and sleep), do it.

As PPs have said, families of rising college freshmen are completely free to decline admissions offers at any time from schools with whose policies (of any kind) they disagree. And absolute truth to tell, as inconvenient or expensive or disappointing or frustrating or bait-and-switch or wasteful as it might seem, older students are also completely free to take a gap year or transfer out if they don't want their school's covid mandates. No one is forcibly trapped in college.

That’s great, but the covid vaccine doesn’t mean you won’t spread or catch covid. Its main benefit is a less severe case of COVID. But college kids weren’t likely to come down with a bad case of covid anyway. The booster requirements are as dumb as the hundreds of thousands in tuition being charged. It’s sickening that they required healthy 20 year olds to take an EUA vaccine/booster that doesn’t even prevent transmission.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There were kids forced out mid-semester this past spring.

Covid vax and booster mandates violate basic medical ethics. Not to mention are coercive, which is prohibited under EUA.

Again, the students who left chose to leave because they chose not to take the vaccine. I am not pretending that is an easy choice, but it is still an available choice. They were not forced to stay and accept a shot.

Colleges can and do change all kinds of policies in the midst of students' careers. Vaccine requirements do get added (meningitis, as other have noted, is a more recent one at many schools); definitions of academic dishonesty get rewritten and differently enforced; political and social disputes provoke governance shifts; tuition gets increased; majors and even entire departments get discontinued. Students are always free to go at any point when they do not like those changes.

It is coercion, which is prohibited for EUA products. (Booster is still EUA.)

And still contrary to medical ethics.

[Anonymous]

All the rising freshmen I know had their boosters months ago. Adults 50+ also work o college campuses.

I mean, there is a reason college students usually have to have meningitis shots and the like as well. Otherwise you would have constant college epidemics.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The big deal is that there is no benefit for OP's kid, w/two shots and two covid infections. Only risk. Forcing it is unethical. There is no basis.

(See eg https://www.fda.gov/media/159007/download #38)

I agree (I'm not the pp you quoted, but I'm the first respondent at 16:41 yesterday.)
But schools made their position on the vaccine known before decision day (May 1.) As a pp noted, a few (like Rice and Vanderbilt) have actually walked back their requirement for a booster (I'm not aware of any schools that did NOT have a booster requirement on May 1, but have since mandated it.)

If it was important to someone to have a choice to not get the booster, they could have applied to many other schools that not only do not require the booster, but do not require the vaccine at all.

Yes! Colleges can set their requirements. You can choose not to attend if you don't want to follow it. Colleges have had vaccination reqs for decades. Some even require Meningitis B vax, others don't. My kid can't attend most universities without the whole slew of vaccinations, similar to what was required in K-12 as well. If you are a Health sciences major, you may have even more reqs. My DC is employed at a company involved in the Healthcare industry, and guess what, since they have to travel to "healthcare sites", they are required to get a TB test done (and follow up with treatment I'd assume if they happen to test positive). It's part of the job reqs. Don't like it, they can find another job. Similarly they are required to be up to date on all other vaccines, including covid and a booster. I for one would prefer anyone I might encounter in healthcare setting to be fully vaxed for all diseases.

+1 from college faculty. Families who don't work in higher ed, use your imagination about the human petri dish that is a college campus. Now multiply that by 100, stop washing your hands, and share your beverage with the 6 nearest people around you, even if you've never met them before. Even before covid, college students were sick *constantly*. Anything you can immunize against, do it, and any healthy behaviors you can promote (including basic things like nutrition and sleep), do it.

As PPs have said, families of rising college freshmen are completely free to decline admissions offers at any time from schools with whose policies (of any kind) they disagree. And absolute truth to tell, as inconvenient or expensive or disappointing or frustrating or bait-and-switch or wasteful as it might seem, older students are also completely free to take a gap year or transfer out if they don't want their school's covid mandates. No one is forcibly trapped in college.

What subject do you teach in college?

Yes, college campuses are Petri dishes. However, the Covid vaccine and the Covid booster do NOT prevent transmit on of Covid. We have known that for a long time now.

How does mandating a Covid vaccine or booster help prevent the spread of Covid? It does not.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Mine got the booster to help protect us as a family, no big deal.

Please explain how a booster ‘protects you as a family’??

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The big deal is that there is no benefit for OP's kid, w/two shots and two covid infections. Only risk. Forcing it is unethical. There is no basis.

(See eg https://www.fda.gov/media/159007/download #38)

I agree (I'm not the pp you quoted, but I'm the first respondent at 16:41 yesterday.)
But schools made their position on the vaccine known before decision day (May 1.) As a pp noted, a few (like Rice and Vanderbilt) have actually walked back their requirement for a booster (I'm not aware of any schools that did NOT have a booster requirement on May 1, but have since mandated it.)

If it was important to someone to have a choice to not get the booster, they could have applied to many other schools that not only do not require the booster, but do not require the vaccine at all.

Yes! Colleges can set their requirements. You can choose not to attend if you don't want to follow it. Colleges have had vaccination reqs for decades. Some even require Meningitis B vax, others don't. My kid can't attend most universities without the whole slew of vaccinations, similar to what was required in K-12 as well. If you are a Health sciences major, you may have even more reqs. My DC is employed at a company involved in the Healthcare industry, and guess what, since they have to travel to "healthcare sites", they are required to get a TB test done (and follow up with treatment I'd assume if they happen to test positive). It's part of the job reqs. Don't like it, they can find another job. Similarly they are required to be up to date on all other vaccines, including covid and a booster. I for one would prefer anyone I might encounter in healthcare setting to be fully vaxed for all diseases.

Which of those are EUA?

The Covid booster is still under EUA. It is not fully FDA approved for 16-25 year old kids (the majority of college students).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:There were kids forced out mid-semester this past spring.

Covid vax and booster mandates violate basic medical ethics. Not to mention are coercive, which is prohibited under EUA.

This +1 million

I cannot believe that any college or university that pegs itself as an ‘institute of higher learning’ would be calling for a Covid vaccine or booster mandate. Completely and totally unethical.

I hope we see some lawsuits.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There were kids forced out mid-semester this past spring.

Covid vax and booster mandates violate basic medical ethics. Not to mention are coercive, which is prohibited under EUA.

Again, the students who left chose to leave because they chose not to take the vaccine. I am not pretending that is an easy choice, but it is still an available choice. They were not forced to stay and accept a shot.

Colleges can and do change all kinds of policies in the midst of students' careers. Vaccine requirements do get added (meningitis, as other have noted, is a more recent one at many schools); definitions of academic dishonesty get rewritten and differently enforced; political and social disputes provoke governance shifts; tuition gets increased; majors and even entire departments get discontinued. Students are always free to go at any point when they do not like those changes.

It is coercion, which is prohibited for EUA products. (Booster is still EUA.)

And still contrary to medical ethics.

Clearly, colleges don’t care.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/johns-hopkins-university-tells-student-his-adverse-reaction-to-the-covid-vaccine-isn-t-sufficient-for-booster-exemption/ar-AAT1AXO

This story really stuck with me about the student at Johns Hopkins.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The big deal is that there is no benefit for OP's kid, w/two shots and two covid infections. Only risk. Forcing it is unethical. There is no basis.

(See eg https://www.fda.gov/media/159007/download #38)

I agree (I'm not the pp you quoted, but I'm the first respondent at 16:41 yesterday.)
But schools made their position on the vaccine known before decision day (May 1.) As a pp noted, a few (like Rice and Vanderbilt) have actually walked back their requirement for a booster (I'm not aware of any schools that did NOT have a booster requirement on May 1, but have since mandated it.)

If it was important to someone to have a choice to not get the booster, they could have applied to many other schools that not only do not require the booster, but do not require the vaccine at all.

Yes! Colleges can set their requirements. You can choose not to attend if you don't want to follow it. Colleges have had vaccination reqs for decades. Some even require Meningitis B vax, others don't. My kid can't attend most universities without the whole slew of vaccinations, similar to what was required in K-12 as well. If you are a Health sciences major, you may have even more reqs. My DC is employed at a company involved in the Healthcare industry, and guess what, since they have to travel to "healthcare sites", they are required to get a TB test done (and follow up with treatment I'd assume if they happen to test positive). It's part of the job reqs. Don't like it, they can find another job. Similarly they are required to be up to date on all other vaccines, including covid and a booster. I for one would prefer anyone I might encounter in healthcare setting to be fully vaxed for all diseases.

+1 from college faculty. Families who don't work in higher ed, use your imagination about the human petri dish that is a college campus. Now multiply that by 100, stop washing your hands, and share your beverage with the 6 nearest people around you, even if you've never met them before. Even before covid, college students were sick *constantly*. Anything you can immunize against, do it, and any healthy behaviors you can promote (including basic things like nutrition and sleep), do it.

As PPs have said, families of rising college freshmen are completely free to decline admissions offers at any time from schools with whose policies (of any kind) they disagree. And absolute truth to tell, as inconvenient or expensive or disappointing or frustrating or bait-and-switch or wasteful as it might seem, older students are also completely free to take a gap year or transfer out if they don't want their school's covid mandates. No one is forcibly trapped in college.

What subject do you teach in college?

Yes, college campuses are Petri dishes. However, the Covid vaccine and the Covid booster do NOT prevent transmit on of Covid. We have known that for a long time now.

How does mandating a Covid vaccine or booster help prevent the spread of Covid? It does not.

+1. Which is why Cornell and several others have removed their booster mandates. The booster mandates did not prevent Omicron cases from exploding on campus last spring.

Rumor has it that Cornell only kept the mandate for the initial series to placate locals, though in time it will become obvious that mandating the initial series makes no sense either.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:There were kids forced out mid-semester this past spring.

Covid vax and booster mandates violate basic medical ethics. Not to mention are coercive, which is prohibited under EUA.

Again, the students who left chose to leave because they chose not to take the vaccine. I am not pretending that is an easy choice, but it is still an available choice. They were not forced to stay and accept a shot.

Colleges can and do change all kinds of policies in the midst of students' careers. Vaccine requirements do get added (meningitis, as other have noted, is a more recent one at many schools); definitions of academic dishonesty get rewritten and differently enforced; political and social disputes provoke governance shifts; tuition gets increased; majors and even entire departments get discontinued. Students are always free to go at any point when they do not like those changes.

It is coercion, which is prohibited for EUA products. (Booster is still EUA.)

And still contrary to medical ethics.

Clearly, colleges don’t care.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/medical/johns-hopkins-university-tells-student-his-adverse-reaction-to-the-covid-vaccine-isn-t-sufficient-for-booster-exemption/ar-AAT1AXO

This story really stuck with me about the student at Johns Hopkins.

Likewise, a student at Union College had a reaction and then was kicked out for not boosting. (https://cbs6albany.com/news/local/union-college-student-forced-to-leave-campus-for-not-meeting-covid-booster-requirement)

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The big deal is that there is no benefit for OP's kid, w/two shots and two covid infections. Only risk. Forcing it is unethical. There is no basis.

(See eg https://www.fda.gov/media/159007/download #38)

I agree (I'm not the pp you quoted, but I'm the first respondent at 16:41 yesterday.)
But schools made their position on the vaccine known before decision day (May 1.) As a pp noted, a few (like Rice and Vanderbilt) have actually walked back their requirement for a booster (I'm not aware of any schools that did NOT have a booster requirement on May 1, but have since mandated it.)

If it was important to someone to have a choice to not get the booster, they could have applied to many other schools that not only do not require the booster, but do not require the vaccine at all.

Yes! Colleges can set their requirements. You can choose not to attend if you don't want to follow it. Colleges have had vaccination reqs for decades. Some even require Meningitis B vax, others don't. My kid can't attend most universities without the whole slew of vaccinations, similar to what was required in K-12 as well. If you are a Health sciences major, you may have even more reqs. My DC is employed at a company involved in the Healthcare industry, and guess what, since they have to travel to "healthcare sites", they are required to get a TB test done (and follow up with treatment I'd assume if they happen to test positive). It's part of the job reqs. Don't like it, they can find another job. Similarly they are required to be up to date on all other vaccines, including covid and a booster. I for one would prefer anyone I might encounter in healthcare setting to be fully vaxed for all diseases.

+1 from college faculty. Families who don't work in higher ed, use your imagination about the human petri dish that is a college campus. Now multiply that by 100, stop washing your hands, and share your beverage with the 6 nearest people around you, even if you've never met them before. Even before covid, college students were sick *constantly*. Anything you can immunize against, do it, and any healthy behaviors you can promote (including basic things like nutrition and sleep), do it.

As PPs have said, families of rising college freshmen are completely free to decline admissions offers at any time from schools with whose policies (of any kind) they disagree. And absolute truth to tell, as inconvenient or expensive or disappointing or frustrating or bait-and-switch or wasteful as it might seem, older students are also completely free to take a gap year or transfer out if they don't want their school's covid mandates. No one is forcibly trapped in college.

+1 My student lived in close quarters in a residence hall all year. Ate in the dining hall multiple times a day. Got his booster just prior to Thanksgiving. He managed to not get Covid during the December surge as well as the rest of the year. All the protocols in place were helpful, including the vax requirements IMO.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The big deal is that there is no benefit for OP's kid, w/two shots and two covid infections. Only risk. Forcing it is unethical. There is no basis.

(See eg https://www.fda.gov/media/159007/download #38)

I agree (I'm not the pp you quoted, but I'm the first respondent at 16:41 yesterday.)
But schools made their position on the vaccine known before decision day (May 1.) As a pp noted, a few (like Rice and Vanderbilt) have actually walked back their requirement for a booster (I'm not aware of any schools that did NOT have a booster requirement on May 1, but have since mandated it.)

If it was important to someone to have a choice to not get the booster, they could have applied to many other schools that not only do not require the booster, but do not require the vaccine at all.

Yes! Colleges can set their requirements. You can choose not to attend if you don't want to follow it. Colleges have had vaccination reqs for decades. Some even require Meningitis B vax, others don't. My kid can't attend most universities without the whole slew of vaccinations, similar to what was required in K-12 as well. If you are a Health sciences major, you may have even more reqs. My DC is employed at a company involved in the Healthcare industry, and guess what, since they have to travel to "healthcare sites", they are required to get a TB test done (and follow up with treatment I'd assume if they happen to test positive). It's part of the job reqs. Don't like it, they can find another job. Similarly they are required to be up to date on all other vaccines, including covid and a booster. I for one would prefer anyone I might encounter in healthcare setting to be fully vaxed for all diseases.

+1 from college faculty. Families who don't work in higher ed, use your imagination about the human petri dish that is a college campus. Now multiply that by 100, stop washing your hands, and share your beverage with the 6 nearest people around you, even if you've never met them before. Even before covid, college students were sick *constantly*. Anything you can immunize against, do it, and any healthy behaviors you can promote (including basic things like nutrition and sleep), do it.

As PPs have said, families of rising college freshmen are completely free to decline admissions offers at any time from schools with whose policies (of any kind) they disagree. And absolute truth to tell, as inconvenient or expensive or disappointing or frustrating or bait-and-switch or wasteful as it might seem, older students are also completely free to take a gap year or transfer out if they don't want their school's covid mandates. No one is forcibly trapped in college.

What subject do you teach in college?

Yes, college campuses are Petri dishes. However, the Covid vaccine and the Covid booster do NOT prevent transmit on of Covid. We have known that for a long time now.

How does mandating a Covid vaccine or booster help prevent the spread of Covid? It does not.

Same college faculty member here. I'm not arguing for or against covid vaccines, merely pointing out that there are practices and choices out there that can (although never with total reliability or with total guarantee of no side effects or repercussions) reduce the chances of serious illness in general and therefore reduce lost days of class (and of fun). These choices can range from sharing soda cans to STD prevention to eating healthy food to flu shots to alcohol and drug use to immunizations. But no one can ever force a student to attend any individual school whose policies they will not accept. They have the complete freedom to withdraw at any moment of any day.

[Anonymous]

The vaccine and boosters and Covid all create strong immunity at first, but it starts to fade over time. Getting a booster strengthens your immunity and decreases your risk of infection and hospitalization. (and long Covid! which has a lot serious problems, many of which are neurological) My kid will get in a couple of weeks because we want to protect against the July 4 surge and we will boost again in December to protect against the post-Christmas January surge. We're going to be taking boosters twice a year for awhile.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The vaccine and boosters and Covid all create strong immunity at first, but it starts to fade over time. Getting a booster strengthens your immunity and decreases your risk of infection and hospitalization. (and long Covid! which has a lot serious problems, many of which are neurological) My kid will get in a couple of weeks because we want to protect against the July 4 surge and we will boost again in December to protect against the post-Christmas January surge. We're going to be taking boosters twice a year for awhile.

How are you planning multiple boosters? (Sincere question, because I'd like more flexible access for my family.) I (adult) have been turned away twice upon requesting booster #2 on the grounds that I'm not old enough. DC has 1 booster and the guidance hasn't come out to allow them another one yet as far as I know.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:The big deal is that there is no benefit for OP's kid, w/two shots and two covid infections. Only risk. Forcing it is unethical. There is no basis.

(See eg https://www.fda.gov/media/159007/download #38)

I agree (I'm not the pp you quoted, but I'm the first respondent at 16:41 yesterday.)
But schools made their position on the vaccine known before decision day (May 1.) As a pp noted, a few (like Rice and Vanderbilt) have actually walked back their requirement for a booster (I'm not aware of any schools that did NOT have a booster requirement on May 1, but have since mandated it.)

If it was important to someone to have a choice to not get the booster, they could have applied to many other schools that not only do not require the booster, but do not require the vaccine at all.

Yes! Colleges can set their requirements. You can choose not to attend if you don't want to follow it. Colleges have had vaccination reqs for decades. Some even require Meningitis B vax, others don't. My kid can't attend most universities without the whole slew of vaccinations, similar to what was required in K-12 as well. If you are a Health sciences major, you may have even more reqs. My DC is employed at a company involved in the Healthcare industry, and guess what, since they have to travel to "healthcare sites", they are required to get a TB test done (and follow up with treatment I'd assume if they happen to test positive). It's part of the job reqs. Don't like it, they can find another job. Similarly they are required to be up to date on all other vaccines, including covid and a booster. I for one would prefer anyone I might encounter in healthcare setting to be fully vaxed for all diseases.

+1 from college faculty. Families who don't work in higher ed, use your imagination about the human petri dish that is a college campus. Now multiply that by 100, stop washing your hands, and share your beverage with the 6 nearest people around you, even if you've never met them before. Even before covid, college students were sick *constantly*. Anything you can immunize against, do it, and any healthy behaviors you can promote (including basic things like nutrition and sleep), do it.

As PPs have said, families of rising college freshmen are completely free to decline admissions offers at any time from schools with whose policies (of any kind) they disagree. And absolute truth to tell, as inconvenient or expensive or disappointing or frustrating or bait-and-switch or wasteful as it might seem, older students are also completely free to take a gap year or transfer out if they don't want their school's covid mandates. No one is forcibly trapped in college.

What subject do you teach in college?

Yes, college campuses are Petri dishes. However, the Covid vaccine and the Covid booster do NOT prevent transmit on of Covid. We have known that for a long time now.

How does mandating a Covid vaccine or booster help prevent the spread of Covid? It does not.

This isn't true. Vaccines and boosters reduce the spread of Covid 19.


One study of households in Scotland found that vaccination reduces transmission by 40-50% among household members.

https://www.bmj.com/content/376/bmj.o298