A Michigan State University academic governance group is recommending requiring anyone on campus this fall to be vaccinated against COVID-19.
The Michigan State University Council voted 87 to 11 during a special meeting Tuesday to recommend mandatory vaccinations for all students, faculty, and staff participating in on-campus activities. The resolution exempts certain individuals, like people with religious objections or those medically unable to get a vaccine.
MSU Faculty Senate Chair Professor Jennifer Johnson supports the resolution.
“I either know, or family or close friends of people I know, at least 20 to 30 of them have died of COVID. So I have just seen tremendous loss from this disease.”
The recommendation is non-binding; final approval would have to come from university President Samuel Stanley Jr., who has acknowledged the positive response towards the recommendation.
But he says an important factor is that people who support it are themselves vaccinated.
“Whether we mandate or don’t mandate, there will be people out there who aren’t vaccinated. We will be depending on herd immunity. And so I think the key thing again is being vaccinated.”
Some of the main concerns addressed during a meeting Tuesday were about how international students would get their shot as well as possible loopholes for exemptions.
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