I bet Covid vaccines will be mandatory for fall 2021. We already have other vaccines that are mandatory. And some schools even made flu shots mandatory for this fall.
My D19’s school said at the start of the semester that what would cause them to shut down would be either (1) exceeding their capacity to isolate and quarantine, or (2) pressure from the county health department in the event of community spread. The latest email expressed concern because Grand Valley State University, which is a large public school that is 20 miles away, is having an outbreak. GVSU is in the same county as Hope. They reiterated to the students the importance of not going to GVSU for parties. Hope is in constant contact with the Ottawa County Health Department, which says they do not yet see an increase in community spread, but rather are seeing cases where those who are infected have a good sense of how and where they were infected.
We have always been skeptical that Hope will be able to make it to the end of the semester. But the way we look at it, each week on campus is a good thing, and one less week online.
For going back to a more normal school experience, even if the vaccines aren’t fully effective, if the 15 min saliva test is able to be self-administered, then I could see many, many more activities opened up and classes going back to full size.
I have a hard time believing that the vaccine will be mandatory in the schools, given the division and skepticism going on right now.
I will get the vaccine if I trust the person who is delivering the safety information. The problem is that half the country doesn’t trust who I trust.
Fauci already indicated that the vaccine will not be as effective as other vaccines, such as measles. It was also reported that administration of the vaccine will be a very time consuming process.
I don’t think there is doom and gloom. Fauci said that by the end of 2021 things should start to look normal. That’s over a year away and seems somewhat realistic to me. I hope he’s right.
I am dreading going to school tomorrow. I am starting to realize that doing my job f2f will be extremely difficult. I would do a better job remote.
I have read that anywhere from 35-50% of Americans would not get a vaccination for CV-19. So the federal government would have to mandate it and I could see lots of states fighting this issue in court. Heck, there are many who won’t even where a mask (which is a lots less invasive).
The good news is that some colleges have done a pretty good job of managing this virus and still allowing students on campus with some in-person instruction. Was talking with a family last night with 2 students at Vanderbilt and they seem to be doing just fine now. Its all trial and error and the colleges will get better at managing this pandemic, 6 months, or 12 months from now. With that said, some colleges (especially the large public universities) might struggle with being able to do frequent testing and have too many students to effectively manage outbreaks. For example, I don’t see the UCs and CSUs allowing many students on campus or allow in-person classes and activities anytime soon…
Organizations like colleges may choose to make getting a vaccine mandatory to participate in certain activities, like in-person instruction or living in campus housing. Vaccine opposition will probably prevent general herd immunity even if the vaccine is 100% effective and 100% safe, but organizations like colleges may choose to protect their own herds.
A state college or university might have trouble mandating a vaccine for in-person activities, but any private college could do it.
Do any states prohibit their state universities from having additional vaccine requirements beyond what the state may have?
Seems that California does not. California requires some vaccines for kindergarten and 7th grade, but evidently does not prohibit CSU and UC from having their own vaccine requirements. UC just recently added a flu vaccine requirement for students, faculty, and staff.
I don’t know if they do. My thought was even if states permit their state universities to impose additional vaccine requirements, it might be politically difficult to do it.
Agreed.
You will have people unwilling to take the first round of vaccines because of the perceived or actual speed at which they were developed and tested, and fears of side effects not seen or documented in the phase 3 trials.
Also unclear whether you can force people to get a vaccine? Supreme Court said yes in the case of smallpox vaccine but don’t know if that’s been recently applied. Colleges can make it a requirement but I’d bet someone files a legal challenge somewhere.
After hearing about yet another young person with myocarditis after testing positive for covid, I wonder if it’s a good idea to start screening more widely. I doubt colleges would have the resources to do this but it might be worth a call to the doctor, even if your child didn’t have covid symptoms.
Some colleges already have (other) vaccine requirements to enroll.
I have a kid who is a D1 athlete, and a husband who has heart disease, so I do pay attention to the myocarditis studies. Not sure if this was already posted but they tested 26 athletes at Ohio State (who had tested positive) and found signs of myocarditis in 4
https://sports.yahoo.com/ohio-state-study-4-of-26-athletes-who-tested-positive-for-covid-19-had-cmr-findings-suggestive-of-myocarditis-184819353.html
And from Scientific American: “COVID-19 Can Wreck Your Heart, Even if You Haven’t Had Any Symptoms”
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/covid-19-can-wreck-your-heart-even-if-you-havent-had-any-symptoms/
Thank you for the link to Ohio State study report! This is one that had been talked about before—where 15% of the athletes who had had covid were found to have myocarditis.
In this study, Ohio State evaluated all 26 athletes who tested positive for covid, including those who were asymptomatic. Of the four students who then showed myocarditis, two had been mildly symptomatic and the other two had been asymptomatic.
I’m surprised this study hasn’t gotten more play. This seems extremely serious. The authors say that the previous consensus view recommended against heart testing for asymptomatic covid positives; they question this view in light of their findings. Not testing for myocardititis after a positive covid test risks sending athletes with myocarditis out onto the field.
The big takeaway from this is not really about eating out. It’s that the plan has gone so well, that the school is now open to loosening some restrictions. That’s a very good thing and bodes well for more to follow. And as for being thrilled or not thrilled - I’m sure the restaurant community in Amherst is thrilled! That’s a good thing too.
Pages and pages ago there was discussion surrounding the Holy Cross (Fauci’s alma mater) decision, made relatively not to have kids back on campus. I listened to an interview Katie Couric did with Fauci and she asked him if he advised Holy Cross on that decision. He did not address HC specifically, but said that he spoke with many schools and told him the things necessary for opening were; test every student before they return to campus, then test students and staff regularly, and have space to isolate the positives. But from what I recall HC had those plans in place, so interesting that they made the decision they did.
Exactly. It is a good thing for Amherst and good thing for the state. The low numbers in MA and particularly in Western MAss have come at a massive cost to the people of the state. At one point MA had the highest unemployment rate in the nation, during the surge. Many restaurants have folded and simply not been able to reopen. So it is an extremely good thing that contactless takeaway dining is being allowed for Amherst students. It will help the local economy recover. Bravo to the Amherst students for taking care of each other.
Seems like it’s generally athletes who are being screened, not that it’s more prevalent in athletes. Schools don’t want their football players dropping dead during workouts or games so they are looking for it. (Well, hopefully.)
One of the kids I know who has signs of myocarditis isn’t an athlete, but his doc said no vigorous exercising until it heals completely. He had covid recently with very mild symptoms. I’m not sure why they gave him an MRI. Parent’s request, I would guess.
So, how is the person supposed to know when it heals completely? Regular MRIs?