* Press release…
To continue our commitment to collective safety, the University of Illinois System will require that all students receive a COVID-19 vaccination if they plan to be on campus for fall semester 2021. This requirement is consistent with our own scientific modeling of the risks associated with the spread of the virus and its variants. It is also consistent with the Illinois Department of Public Health’s goals.
We recognize that some individuals have health conditions or other reasons why they cannot be vaccinated. That is why it is so important that those of us who can get vaccinated do so. Those who are not vaccinated will need to follow campus-specific guidelines and any exemption protocols issued by each university. Individuals who plan to work or study remotely are exempted from these requirements.
Throughout the COVID-19 crisis, students have helped make the University of Illinois System a model for the nation – a model of community, a model of safety and a model of pulling together for the common good. We look forward to their help in setting the standard again this fall, a semester that will restore most in-person instruction and many of the other traditional rhythms of campus life that COVID interrupted last year. Widespread vaccinations will help us do that.
Each university will follow up with additional guidance on vaccination information as well as other safety measures planned for fall. We also will continue to monitor our policies closely, making adjustments as appropriate based on advances in scientific understanding and updated guidance from public health authorities.
Guidelines for faculty and staff are still being developed and will be shared later this summer.
Thoughts?
- Pot calling kettle - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 11:54 am:
Necessary and prudent. I expect other universities to follow.
- Al - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 11:59 am:
Will we have an Approved Vaccine by then? Or just these Emergency Authorized For Use in At Risk Population vaccines like we currently have. There is a distinction and Mandating student take an Unapproved for General use vaccine sounds like a hysterical reach.
- King Louis XVI - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 12:02 pm:
–hysterical reach–
No sense of irony.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 12:02 pm:
===Will we have an Approved Vaccine by then? Or just these Emergency Authorized For Use in At Risk Population vaccines like we currently have.===
So these are “unauthorized” or “approved”?
Are you vaccinated? If not… Is it because the approval isn’t a standard one during a global pandemic?
- Banish Misfortune - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 12:04 pm:
This is great news for students. They will be able to have close to a much more normal student experience. I have relatives who had a very tough time this past year. And those who don’t want to get vaxed. Stay home and zoom. College is not for everyone.
- TheAardvark - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 12:06 pm:
I am mildly surprised at how relatively late this announcement was made, especially as other schools were announcing this as early as February, IIRC. I think this makes U of I the first public school in Illinois to make this a requirement, which makes sense; I wonder if this will result in a cascading effect for other state schools to follow suit.
- Demoralized - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 12:07 pm:
Al:
You speak well for the anti-vax crowd. The argument people like you try to make is laughable.
- SWIL_Voter - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 12:07 pm:
== There is a distinction and Mandating student take an Unapproved for General use vaccine sounds like a hysterical reach. ==
Looks like the unvaxxed can continue to work/study from home and/or follow other campus specific guidelines when returning, which sounds perfectly reasonable. Folks with concerns around vaccine approval are accommodated while the rest of us get on with our lives
- Demoralized - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 12:08 pm:
There are already mandated vaccines students have to have. No reason this shouldn’t be added to the list.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 12:09 pm:
===No sense of irony. ===
Or self-awareness.
- Jibba - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 12:11 pm:
===sounds like a hysterical reach===
It is highly hysterical to attempt to discredit a very effective vaccine with few side effects that already has been given to hundreds of millions of people.
I enjoy the fact that science has been considered in their decision. Wish more schools and universities would follow. Everywhere I go, most or all people are unmasked, even children too young for the vaccination. Many people have surrendered their common sense and decency.
- Pot calling kettle - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 12:15 pm:
==Will we have an Approved Vaccine by then?==
We have three approved vaccines in the U.S. All three are free, safe, and effective.
The U of I is a prominent research university with medical research faculty who understand the process of vaccine development and approval as well as the consequences of not having this policy.
- OneMan - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 12:16 pm:
Not that U of I needs it (at least Urbana-Champaign) but I wonder if this gives a marketing/recruiting bump?
Suffice to say I am very confident that the state my kid goes to school in isn’t going to require it (which suffice to say, I disagree with).
- thisjustinagain - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 12:16 pm:
Al raises the Stupid Flag and waves it proudly. The “untested” vaccines are so much more of a hazard than Covid, because of 5G/Flat Earth/Other Assorted False Conspiracy Theories Unsupported By Evidence.
Meanwhile, if the rest of the populace wants to return to normal, the fastest route is vaccination. We lost over 600,000 people; don’t give Covid another freebie.
- Northsider - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 12:20 pm:
Good.
- Pot calling kettle - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 12:20 pm:
==I am mildly surprised at how relatively late this announcement was made…this makes U of I the first public school in Illinois to make this a requirement…I wonder if this will result in a cascading effect for other state schools to follow suit. ==
I think many (most?) colleges and universities are waiting of some guidance from the state. I hope IBHE and ICCB make this a recommendation by the end of the week. Students need some lead time (2-6 weeks, depending on the vaccine); so, the sooner this is put in place, the better.
- Ryan - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 12:26 pm:
Excellent. Since my university has been doing everything, COVID-related, the U of I does, just a few days later, I look forward to this.
- Jocko - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 12:28 pm:
==General use vaccine sounds like a hysterical reach.==
Jair Bolsonaro, is that you?
- Glengarry - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 12:39 pm:
It’s logical.
- Skutt - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 12:44 pm:
Good to hear. I work at a small private university that announced three weeks ago that we will be requiring it too.
- wut? - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 12:45 pm:
Pot calling Kettle… The university systems need what exactly from the state? IDPH/Gov and pretty much every state official have said you need to go get vaccinated so we can get back to normal. What else do universities need from them before they can implement their own public health rules for their campuses?
- phocion - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 12:45 pm:
Meh. Kids have to get all kinds of vaccinations to enter grade school. Get jabbed, people!
- Mad Hatter - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 12:48 pm:
So students will be required to be vaccinated, but guidelines for Faculty and Staff are still being developed.
Seriously..?
Sounds like a Union Issue.
- Huh? - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 12:53 pm:
Good news. Have a niece attending UIUC this fall.
- Siriously - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 12:53 pm:
Half the Big 10 schools already made this move, I’m glad IL is doing this - but they are not the first.
- Rich Miller - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 12:54 pm:
===but they are not the first===
Who said they were?
- Skeptic - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 12:55 pm:
Medical exemption? Study remotely. Religious objection? Study remotely. Anti-vaxxer? Study remotely. Want your freedom? Study remotely. This isn’t rocket science.
- Manchester - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 12:59 pm:
Kudos to the U of I for taking this crucial step. If the anti-vax crowd doesn’t like it, let them go elsewhere.
- Grandson of Man - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 1:00 pm:
Good. Support it. Surely the “law and order” people support rules. I wouldn’t attend a school that doesn’t mandate the vaccine.
- BCOSEC - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 1:03 pm:
We have a child who spent her first year at UIUC last year. She was routinely tested. We were very impressed how UIUC dealt with COVID. We also were impressed at the high percentage of students who complied with masks and sacrificed so much. Finally, we are impressed at the high vaccination rates of UIUC students prior to this announcement
For those who are quick to be critical of the “youngs” the UIUC youngs surpassed most other cities and towns in responsibly dealing with COVID.
- zatoichi - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 1:11 pm:
Good move that gets one more step back to normal. Can it be a PR bonus? Sure. As the delta variant grows it primarily hits the unvaxed. If this and stuff like Foo Fighters requiring vax proof to attend a concert help gets Covid under control; then go for it.
- Oswego Willy - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 1:11 pm:
Very happy. Good on the system.
It’s the “SEC” schools in places like Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Kentucky and Tennessee that should worry parents and students alike.
It’s not those state’s universities that are worrisome, it’s the states hosting those schools and those students… I’m glad Illinois (as a state and university system) is worried and doing the necessary steps for safety, post vaccine.
- Sir Reel - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 1:13 pm:
Universities aren’t high schools. No one has to go. No one is forced to go.
If you don’t want to be vaccinated, don’t go. Find another university that doesn’t require vaccination.
- Lurker - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 1:15 pm:
You cannot allow staff on campus if they are not vaccinated if you are doing this to students. In fact, I think all state employees must be vaccinated before returning to work. I’m tired of students being treated differently like they do not have the same rights.
But, I do hope all staff get vaccinated and make this a moot point.
- Dee Gee Dee - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 1:39 pm:
I work at a hospital, and the vax is not required even for those providing direct patient care. Why? Because of the EUA. It will be required once the vax gets full FDA approval.
- Demoralized - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 2:04 pm:
==Why? Because of the EUA==
I wouldn’t rely on that as my guide. A federal judge has already said that fact does not matter and that the vaccine can be mandated. I think you’ll start to see more and more mandates now that at least one federal judge has ruled on the matter.
- Ron Burgundy - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 2:34 pm:
-Will we have an Approved Vaccine by then? Or just these Emergency Authorized For Use in At Risk Population vaccines like we currently have. There is a distinction and Mandating student take an Unapproved for General use vaccine sounds like a hysterical reach.-
Just be honest, you wouldn’t get it - “Approved” or not - because nothing will ever meet your warped idea of approval. Thanks for saving me the trouble of using random caps to make your comment look unhinged though.
UIUC students, who by and large are smart and adults who can make their own decisions (except for a very few new students) have many choices here: get vaccinated, go remote, keep testing and wearing masks, or go somewhere else. Unless you are one of those students or a parent of one under 18 your opinion doesn’t matter much.
- repete - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 3:32 pm:
I’ve read that the biggest difference between vaxed and unvaxed was not age, race, wealth, sexual identity, religion, or lack of religion. It was college education. I suspect if your smart enough to get into U of I you’ll be vaxed.
- cermak_rd - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 4:23 pm:
repete,
I wonder if that result is not about intelligence, since many intelligent people have not attended college. But if it is about the reason people go to college. To learn from others. To put yourself subordinate to another person because they are smarter, more credentialed, more educated, more expert etc.
- Eastern Bloc Gulag - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 4:57 pm:
C’mon IBHE ICCB IDPH and any other alphabet soup you want to list - get off the dime and make this a requirement for all state colleges and universities. If the Governor doesn’t have the political will to back up his rhetoric on Covid vaccines with a state mandate, someone has to step up and do it for him. All the universities (except U of I) are playing a silly game of chicken to see who jumps first. Meanwhile, all the planning and prep it takes to implement this requirement gets pushed further and further back.
- filmmaker prof - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 6:53 pm:
fyi - faculty at UIUC are not unionized (which I hate).
- Pot calling kettle - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 8:19 pm:
===The university systems need what exactly from the state? IDPH/Gov and pretty much every state official have said you need to go get vaccinated so we can get back to normal. What else do universities need from them before they can implement their own public health rules for their campuses?===
The smaller public 4 yrs and the CCs typically wait for guidance from IBHE and ICCB. That’s how they roll. Can they do it on their own? Yes. Will they do it on their own? Probably not. (Some may follow the U of I, but I won’t hold my breath.)
- Citizen Kane - Monday, Jun 21, 21 @ 10:18 pm:
Generally, I have no problem with this as long as it is FDA approved by then and the staff are held to the same requirement.
- Anonymous for now - Tuesday, Jun 22, 21 @ 9:56 am:
I can’t speak for all the universities, but Northwestern has both required staff get vaxxed to be on campus and provided the vaccinations for people who can’t work remotely.
And AI? Randomly Capitalizing words that Aren’t capitilied in Normal English makes You look like a Russian bot.