Of course you can’t “force” him. I get that one. I have a son who decided to skip going to college and I had plenty of people tell me to “make” him go. I laughed at them and said if I make him go, he won’t go to class and then I’m out my 45k a year or whatever it costs and then what? They realized how stupid it then sounded to tell me to “make” him go.
Your son clearly needs to educate himself and be directed to the information. The vaccine is safe. There are safeguards from the JNJ. He also is not a female which is the population it has effected the most. They also now know if someone gets JNJ and has blood clots, which medicines to treat them with instead of the usual blood clotting ones like heparin. There have been 100’s of millions of doses of the vaccine give. It is safe. He needs to see that the long term risk of getting covid and the damage it can do is permanent and it is known that there is in fact damage. The long term damage and implications of that are unknown just as any long term effect of the vaccine is unknown but I’d much rather risk getting the vaccine than covid. I know healthy people who have gotten covid and I know people who were healthy that died from it with no underlying conditions. Young and old. My daughters have a friend who’s 16 year old first cousin died. My first cousin had covid in November and is still suffering the long term effects. She was on a vent in the ICU and still on occasion has to go in for oxygen. Hopefully your son will come to the conclusion on his own that it’s safer to get it than not, but it sounds like he will need to figure that out. It may be when he wants to go to an event and they don’t let him in. Or travel. Or meets someone that is turned off by him for not being vaccinated. This just happened in Texas to my daughter’s roommate from last year - go figure. A boy after talking to her for hours learned she wasn’t vaccinated and ended the conversation and walked away. To some it matters, to others it doesn’t.
Btw, the vaccine is going to be approved with full FDA authorization soon as Pfizer is submitting it this month. Since your son can’t claim that as his reason any longer, will that now change his mind? Just curious as I know a lot of people have been using that as the reason why they won’t get it.
It depends where he’s going to school. One of my kids school no mandate, one everyone has to get it, and the other only if you’re in on campus housing and most likely also to go to certain in person classes. So, even if you live off campus with some schools you will still need to be vaccinated.
@sdl0625 It makes sense that they’re listing classes as hybrid and online as opposed to the other way. Most schools are doing a worst case scenario right now because that’s what the modalities called for when they set up the classes and the classrooms. My son’s school did that as well and already some of the modalities are changing. You’re going to have a lot less upset people if you go from worse to better than saying they’re going to be in person then switch to online as a lot of us saw last year. Many schools are listing large lectures over a certain number, based on state guidelines as online. Professors in many cases are part of a union so they can’t require them to get the vaccine. Similar to why not all k-12 teachers chose to get the vaccine. You can’t make them. The union protects them.
Can someone in the know elaborate on this? If the vaccines receive full FDA approval how does the union protect the professors and staff from being required to get it?
i still dont think its fair that because professors are part of the union you cant require them to get the vaccine yet you can require the students to do so; and not all students can just change schools if they decide not to. I am all for consequences for students not vaccinated (more testing, not allowed at certain social events , or getting tested all the time, etc, masking outdoors, etc), but to require it of just the students, and students who have been paying a college for years is just wrong. Worse case if my son really dug his heels in, I would get a medical exemption for him. (I likely could based on some conditions of his). Of course I want him vaccinated, but forcing a child with ASD to do something versus letting them decide, I am in for a rocky ride.
As I’m reading this thread I am cracking up. One of our D’s attends SMU (Southern Methodist University) where her experience the last 12 months has been as “normal” as can be expected, particularly compared to nearly every other institution mentioned.
This blows many minds (so hold tight) but SMU did not require ANY proactive covid testing this entire school year and held mostly in person classes (with masks and other precautions), all sports and Greek life activities. The only time you “had” to be tested was if you were contact traced - which has not happened a single time for her yet. (Which shocks ME considering 5 classes, 2 labs and she works our nearly every day). She took a covid test the day before flying back for the holiday and not since. She is extremely respectful to those around her and takes precautions beyond the norm. Being a clean freak helps. There has not been (a reported) outbreak, nor death related to campus activities though clearly there have been many positive cases. Since vaccines became available in their health center many have taken advantage of it but, it is their choice. The media freaked out when the state mask mandate was lifted (though not on this campus) but the reality thankfully, is the numbers only have declined …
I really urge you all to take a look at their website/COVID plan and dashboard just for comparison sake. This environment is not for everyone (there are no circles painted 6ft apart in the quad etc) but she feel extremely lucky to be there during this time continuing her rigorous studies and modified social life - in a common sense manner.
From her reports, maybe 1/2 will get or have already been vaccinated, 1/4 have natural antibodies from infection and 1/4 are waiting - mostly for “full” approval. So yes, I DO think that will help widen the net of protection.
There might be a lot more going on than just accommodating faculty at the expense of undergrads. Not denying that there could be schools doing just this, but perhaps it’s best to focus just on those institutions where your kids are at and understand what policies they are implementing and why. Broadly, however, a couple of reasons why some courses are going to be online this fall might include accommodations, including for international students who can’t get to the US, and for pedagogical reasons. Most faculty prefer teaching in-person as well, and this is just a small sample but I do know several faculty and not one has declined the vaccine. In fact they rushed to get it. Faculty seem to be a risk-averse bunch who have embraced the vaccine. Does anyone else have a different observation?
ASD kids usually need more time to process information and they appreciate having clear choices. If this were our specific scenario, I’d offer support if he’d like the medical exemption.
As my kids’ old elementary school principal used to remind us, you attract more flies with honey than vinegar. “Thou Shalts” tend not to go over too well in general, and “rules for thee but not for me” do even worse. It doesn’t take an ASD kid to see hypocrisy at play (assuming that is indeed what is going on), but perhaps digging into why schools are doing what they do might help. BTW, not all universities have unionized faculty, even if unions were indeed running a blockade. Also, let’s face it: vaccine enthusiasm increases with age and faculty are going to want to get back to normal as much as everyone else.
I teach at a major university which is mandating the vaccine and will be in person in the fall. One of the many moving pieces right now is classrooms and space – in person classes this year required 6 foot social distancing, so finding classrooms was a huge challenge and teaching times were often bizarre because of the limited inventory of classrooms that worked for ordinary class sizes. Right now, no one really knows if there will be social distancing in-class, but 3 feet instead of 6, or whether there will be regular seating. So universities aren’t sure what their classroom availability will look like and may use remote teaching as a holding place for some classes while all this gets worked out. Then again, my own institution and several others I know have delayed fall registration until the summer because they just don’t know what the physical classroom requirements will be.
thank you for understanding what I am facing with ASD kid. I almost had him convinced that the JnJ was based on “older technology” (viral vectors being around longer than MRNA), and then the blood clot thing happened. First thing will be full FDA approval . So far his school has not said mandatory, but he has told me that if they do force it, he “wants to drop out”. So I have my own ways that I might appeal to him, but ASD kids as much as they like routine, also dont like being forced. He had no problems taking the Flu shot. I do think if push comes to shove I can get him a medical exemption.
Exactly. As I have stated before, what the last 12 months has solidified in my mind is that “follow the science” (serious red hot poker to the ears when I hear that) means in many cases is, follow-the science-of-the-scientists-I-agree-with at any given time. Let’s be intellectual honest and not forget some of what the experts have said a mere 12 months ago and how even their “science” has completely changed on some fronts.
The other thing about Bowdoin is there will not be a remote option for classes, so some students (I know of at least one student with an at-risk condition) may have to make a tough choice in terms of continuing to attend or transferring.
Sometime soon, legions of young graduate students will be producing dissertations on whether any of this really mattered. Were serious cases higher per capital in Florida, which kept public schools open, than in NJ, which closed for most of a year? Did colleges which adopted strict lockdowns avoid covid but incur substantial mental health crises instead, and what were the consequences? It will be interesting to see the results.
Doesn’t CDC still recommend six feet generally? Chicago public schools required six feet of social distancing when they re-opened; has that been updated? (hopefully so). UChicago and probably other IL universities require six feet; here in my home state K-12 and everywhere else still require six feet. It’s still pretty much the requirement these days. Hopefully to be changed in the fall.
My youngest (not in IL) attends a charter school so no union - still six feet, with mask. But she’s in high school so maybe its different for the K-4’s. Just checked in with a friend who teaches in our local district to find out what the latest protocols are. It’s been a disaster in our district; in-person keeps getting shut down for “cleaning” but distance learning hasn’t missed a single day. Irony of ironies - it’s been the better choice due to less disruption of the academic year. The teachers were especially trained for remote as well whereas the in-person instructors kept getting three-day holidays during “cleaning” . . .
Not sure if you were being facetious regarding results in NJ & FL - and their vastly different measures taken in management of the pandemic. Most K-12 schools in FL were safely fully open/in-person with every sport and teachers all year since August - which most news outlets would have you think was a death sentence. Here is data per the NYT this week:
