University of Hawaii students must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 in order to return to campuses in the fall.
However, the vaccine requirement will take effect only after at least one of the three COVID-19 vaccines currently under emergency use authorization has been approved and fully licensed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which is anticipated this summer, officials said Monday.
“It is clear that a vaccinated campus is a safer campus for everyone, and a fully vaccinated student community enables the best opportunity for a healthy return to high-quality face-to-face teaching, learning and research,” UH President David Lassner said in a news release. “This decision does not come lightly, and is based on guidance from our own Health and Well-Being Working Group as well as the American College Health Association recommendation that all on-campus college students be required to be vaccinated.”
“Having fully vaccinated campuses will help tremendously to create a much safer learning environment and minimize any transmission of COVID-19 from person to person,” state Health Director Dr. Libby Char said in the release.
UH-Hilo Chancellor Bonnie Irwin shared similar sentiments in an email. She said requiring the university’s on-campus students to be vaccinated is for everyone’s safety and well-being.
“Our universities and colleges believe strongly in the importance of science and protecting the health and safety of our community,” she wrote. “This policy allows us to lead by example.”
During a news conference Monday afternoon, Lassner said UH is waiting to implement the policy until at least one vaccine has received full authorization from the FDA, because some individuals are concerned about being inoculated with a vaccine only available under emergency use authorization.
The university system also is working through a verification process.
Lassner said UH is watching closely the state’s Safe Travels program and has a relationship with the state organizations that can perform automatic verification of vaccine cards.
But UH “may also just ask people to show us their vaccination card.”
While it may be possible to forge those cards, Lassner said UH doesn’t believe people will be highly motivated to do so.
More detailed information regarding the vaccine requirement will be available in the coming months.
Unvaccinated students will still be welcomed and may enroll in online courses.
Online learners will continue to be able to engage with student services online, as they have done over the past year, and will be able to participate in student activities virtually, UH said.
There will, however, be some courses where there is no online option.
“At that point, it will be up to the student to decide what is best for them,” UH spokesman Dan Meisenzahl said in an email. “Like the message (says), we do not take this step lightly and know that it will force difficult decisions.”
The university also will begin formal discussions with the three unions that represent UH employees about possibly requiring COVID-19 vaccinations.
“I am hopeful that our collective bargaining units will also be on board with this and agree for their membership to be vaccinated,” Irwin said.
UH’s health requirements for students currently include a TB clearance as well as immunizations for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR); tetanus, diphtheria and pertussis; and varicella, or chicken pox. The meningococcal conjugate vaccination also is required for first-year students living in on-campus housing.
According to Lassner, there are approximately 960 religious and medical exemptions out of nearly 48,000 students across the UH system.
Email Stephanie Salmons at ssalmons@hawaiitribune-herald.com.