Agree. I would add that the not vax + not vax risk would be much lower if either or both had covid, higher if not. Same with MV* + not vax.
Pretty sure this is not a HIPAA violation.
Also @Mwfan1921 I too have wondered about the policing because even now when I walk around with my mask on in certain places, I often wonder if someone thinks Iām not vaccinated. For me, it just depends on the place of business where Iām at and how crowded it is, even though Iām vaccinated. Some places I walk in, everyone is masked and some places no one is masked. But I have also read that some places, not necessarily schools, will have different colored wristbands that determine what someone will be allowed to do. Sounds awful if you ask me but I guess for those who are vaccinated, most donāt really care if people know theyāre vaccinated or not and will gladly wear a badge (wristband) showing they are.
Some cruise ships out of Florida since it was ruled they canāt require vaccination for everyone are basically making it less enjoyable for those that are not. They need to pay for their own on board covid tests, canāt go to shows, or other areas of the ship, etc. Again, itās the holding the carrot over someone. Some will take it, some wonāt. We were supposed to sail on a cruise in December but only changed because my sonās break conflicts with the dates and I couldnāt find one that worked with all of my kidās vacations so weāre going somewhere else altogether. Iām not so sure I would want to go on a cruise just yet now knowing that they canāt mandate the vaccine, regardless of my being vaccinated.
Love this idea of random spot checks. My friendās son who is going to Purdue and living in a learning community is very concerned about having a roommate who is not vaccinated.
Regardless of the fact that itās still a low risk to him, part of it is also sharing the same values about mask wearing and vaccinations in general. He went random for a roommate and now realizes it was possibly a mistake, but that was one of the things about Purdue that was kind of a negative in that roommate requests were due so early and way before some kids even heard from other schools. My son wouldāve been in the same boat and only for that reason did he also wind up not going random himself.
At businesses using the honor system for āmask required only if unvaccinatedā, it does not look like mask use is any reliable indicator of vaccination status, at least from what I have seen. Vaccination rate in the area is probably around 70%, but mask use has been something like 80-100% in the stores that I have been in since the mask rule change. Perhaps there is a lot of lingering COVID-19-paranoia, or perhaps a lot of people are unsure of each businessā policy and put on masks just in case. On the other hand, there is likely considerably overlap between vaccine refusal and dislike of wearing masks, so it is certainly possible that some of the few without masks are also unvaccinated.
Iād agree with all of that. Most people here are vaccinated, but in large crowds or busy stores people are generally wearing them. Iām getting a little more comfortable, but my kids are wearing them more than me. Their father is a physician so I know he is giving them a lot more data about why they should wear them in certain instances and thatās fine.
My daughter in Israel had to get a PCR test within 72 hours of getting there, another one at the airport upon landing, quarantine then until they had a serology test to check for antibodies and /or level of vaccine if vaccinated and then depending on those results were free to leave quarantine within 24 hours, unless no vaccine or antibodies then 14 days. She just now told me that someone who just arrived, had JNJ and her serology test showed she had 0 antibodies. Yikes. So, this is another reason why in large crowds, I still want to wear my mask. I donāt want to be one of the ones who had a failing vaccine, even though I know I didnāt have JNJ. Just better safe than sorry.
And ya know the people who should be wearing masks - anti-mask, anti-vax - arenāt! I live in a high compliance, high vaxxed area and most people are still wearing masks.
My DCās small LAC is requiring the vaccine.
I was bummed to learn that so far, S21ās university is not requiring the vaccine (of all the universities he applied to the only ones not requiring are both in OH, go figure). However, he already knows who his roommate is and fortunately, his roommate has also been vaccinated.
Thankfully S19ās college is requiring it and all six of his housemates have already been vaccinated.
Agree with @ucbalumnus - thanks for providing the e-mail but it doesnāt add new information. Itās pretty clear that they want everyone vaccinated but have provided an option to choose other Covid protections. The large percentage who have received at least one dose through end of Spring semester suggest strong vaccine enthusiasm to begin with which is always encouraging to learn.
Itās a good opportunity for students to really step up and prove that they are responsible adults and hopefully the school will act swiftly in any unfortunate event of cheating.
Roommate thing seems fraught with complications. One student can just refuse to disclose to the other their vaccine status; as itās a HIPAA (ETA: or other privacy) matter not sure how to get around that. Is it reasonable for one vaccinated to insist on another? What if someone cannot vaccinate and insists on a vaccinated roommate for further protection? Put Legal on speed dial! Res Life might need specific policies and restrictions.
Universities have to be very careful about how they use and store information of someoneās vaccine status. UChicago (my kidsā school) has provided the following a few times on itās vaccine mandate communications:
Please keep in mind that there are significant privacy concerns about asking individuals for their vaccination status on an ad hoc basis. Individual University offices and programs should not set up their own processes or ask individuals about their vaccination status. The University has announced it will be centrally enforcing the student vaccine requirement. Individual offices and programs should not use vaccination status to exclude individuals from participating in University activities.
In addition, the vaccine portal has to be HIPAA-compliant, because it will be used to upload protected health information. So it appears that HIPAA rules apply to institutions other than strictly health providers. Iād assume that if, say, your employer requires proof of flu or Covid vaccination those means of storing that information would need to conform to HIPAA.
Medically vulnerable students should be able to request a single at most schools.
Other schools will make covid vaccination a requirement for living in residence halls, like a number of other vaccines.
Are there schools not accepting religious exemptions? Most of the ones Iām aware of are. Those that have one can live in the dorms.
I believe there are 6 states that donāt allow for religious exemptions any more. Not sure if schools in those states have the same policies.
Purdue does allow for exemptions but also says if there is an outbreak that unvaccinated students will be asked to leave. For covid, thatās a big risk.
NYS public colleges (SUNY/CUNY schools) will require the Covid vaccine for in person instruction this fall. The state ended exemptions for religious reasons a couple of years ago.
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My state doesnāt allow them, but Sās school (instate) is accepting them.
Probably not the only lawsuit of this type that we will see in the next few months:
https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/22/us/indiana-university-covid-19-vaccination-lawsuit/index.html
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You are rightā¦It looks like health and treatment records at colleges are not āProtected Health Informationā as defined by HIPAA:
HIPAA specifically excludes āeducation recordsā or ātreatment recordsā from the definition of āprotected health information (PHI).ā (even if the school is a HIPAA covered entity)
Thereās much more online, would love to hear our CC attorneys weigh in.
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Lots of universities are health providers (e.g. student health service, medical school teaching hospital).
There are some colleges with medical exemptions only. See the informational thread listing college policies.
For K-12 vaccination requirements in general (not COVID-19), there are states with medical exemptions only.