UNC System will not require COVID-19 virus vaccine for fall 2021 return
The UNC System recently announced they will not require students, faculty or staff to receive the COVID-19 virus vaccine or provide any proof of vaccination prior to their return in the fall.
Several major universities, including Duke University have announced that they will require students to receive the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine prior to their return.
“The University of North Carolina System remains committed to following guidance from public health officials and state law regarding vaccinations,” a UNC System spokesperson told WRAL. “No federal or state public health official has directed that COVID-19 vaccinations be mandated for students at institutions of higher education.”
In North Carolina, anyone over the age of 16 is eligible to receive the COVID-19 virus vaccine and so far, over 72,000 vaccines have been administered across the UNC System’s 16 universities.
“The UNC System strongly recommends the vaccine for students but is not requiring it. We urge our students and all North Carolinians to be vaccinated at the earliest opportunity. Across the state, our 16 university campuses are performing a public service by helping to distribute vaccines to faculty, staff, students and members of the community.”
In North Carolina, anyone over the age of 16 is eligible to receive the COVID-19 virus vaccine and so far, over 72,000 vaccines have been administered across the UNC System’s 16 universities.
The UNC Wilmington (UNCW) COVID-19 virus vaccine clinic at the Burney Center administered over 2,500 doses of the one-shot Johnson & Johnson vaccine prior to the clinic’s pause of operations due to reports of rare blood clots possibly linked to this specific vaccine.
In the past two weeks, UNCW has only reported 19 positive cases of the COVID-19 virus for off-campus students and 17 positive cases for on-campus students.
D. Kurth • Aug 23, 2021 at 8:58 am
Students who had Covid have the natural antibodies and should do not needed weekly testing.
Joe Powell • Jul 6, 2021 at 12:50 pm
Latest stats as of 7/6/2021 have 7-day positive case average for New Hannover County at two (New York Times). Two cases for a county with a population of 240,000. Assuming the vaccines are perfectly safe and effective, why do vaccinated people care if others are not vaccinated especially since the latest stats have the new case rate at 1/120,000 or 0.00083%? And why is immunity acquired through natural infection being ignored?
Dr. Carol Marangoni • Jun 1, 2021 at 6:19 pm
These are EUA vaccines – that means that no one knows the long term safety or efficacy of these shots. Let the clinical trials run their course, they should be finished in 2023. Also note that no animal trials were conducted to assess the safety of these products. The history of coronavirus vaccines is replete with examples of the animals developing a strong antibody response to the vaccines, only to die when exposed to the wild virus. We have no idea if the same will occur with the human guinea pigs who have elected to take these vaccines, only time will tell. And furthermore these products are not vaccines in the medical or legal definition of the word, they are experimental gene technologies. Just check the SEC filings for both Pfizer and Moderna and you will see that in black and white. Err on the side of caution and wait to see how this plays out before assuming these brand new medical technologies are “safe and effective.”
John Michael West • May 4, 2021 at 2:39 am
Great decision. My body, my choice.
Jill Gerard • Apr 28, 2021 at 12:56 pm
The decision to not require evidence of vaccination is truly disheartening.
Asymptomatic carriers continue to spread the disease. The only way to get things under control is through vaccination. Vaccines of all types are required–and this should be one more added to that list.
By not making the right and brave choice to mandate the vaccine, the community will continue to be at risk in the fall.
Philip Gerard • Apr 28, 2021 at 12:28 pm
This decision is a dodge and, in my view, a dereliction. Universities have every right to require vaccines, as they already do. No student, staff member, or faculty member should have to worry about gathering with potentially unvaccinated people, especially when vaccines are safe, effective, available, and FREE. Jacob Sawyer is absolutely right: the well-being of responsible members of the community is going to be put at risk by the selfish few.
Jacob Sawyer • Apr 23, 2021 at 5:14 pm
I actually believe that the UNC system needs to mandate the vaccine or at least provide some type of digital passport system so that students who are inoculated have access to events, gathering hubs, and other social opportunities without having to worry about face masks or social distancing.