Editor’s note: During the editing process, Emerald editors attached a misleading headline to this story, reading: “UO will not require vaccine for fall students.” This is not exactly true as University of Oregon administrators said their decision to require COVID-19 vaccinations for returning students is subject to change. The story has been changed to reflect this error. 

Students and faculty will not need a COVID-19 vaccine in order to resume in-person activities in the fall, said University of Oregon spokesperson Saul Hubbard, but that decision is still subject to change.  
He said there are “complex legal, logistical and equity challenges to adopting a vaccine requirement for everyone engaging in face-to-face activities at the UO.” 

There is a growing list of universities that will require their students to receive a COVID-19 vaccine by the fall, including Rutgers University, Duke University, Cornell University, Brown, Northeastern, Cleveland State University, Fort Lewis College, Nova Southeastern University and University of Notre Dame. It is expected that more universities will join this list after April 19, when all U.S. states will begin vaccinating everyone age 16 and up. 

“The university continues to closely follow public health requirements, best practices and other factors in determining whether vaccinations will be required in the future for those engaging in face-to-face activities at the UO,” the university said in an email statement.

UO students, faculty and graduate employees are split on the university’s decision to make vaccination optional. UO Senior Becca Lechtman said she believes getting the vaccine is the right way to go, but people should be able to do what they feel is best for themselves. 

“I feel as though I can encourage people to get the vaccine, but ultimately I don’t have the right to feel upset if they don’t,” she said. 

UO senior Marissa McDaniel said that because the university requires other vaccines, it makes sense to also require the COVID-19 vaccine, suggesting that people fill out an exemption form if they have a reason to not receive it. 

“I know this vaccine is way newer and a lot of people are still hesitant about its safety and effectiveness, but I’m worried the lack of requirement will lead to a lot of people who would otherwise be fine getting it, just holding off for longer or never getting it,” she said. 

UO requires students to get vaccines for measles, mumps and rubella, meningococcal, tetanus, diphtheria, pertussis and chicken pox. However, students can request an exemption from any of these immunizations for medical or religious reasons. 

UO Global Health Director Dr. Kristin Yarris said that before the pandemic, the state of Oregon had some of the highest rates of parental opt-out for mandatory childhood vaccinations. But when the Oregon Health Authority made it a little harder for parents to opt out of vaccine requirements by requiring them to talk to a doctor first, opt-out rates went from nearly 15% to under 5%. 

“We have empirical data to show that when you talk to people about the benefits of vaccination, the real risks and benefits, they tend to opt in,” said Yarris, who also serves on the Latinx advisory board for Lane County Public Health. “We could imagine a requirement for vaccines that allowed a medical exemption. But if you wanted to opt out, you had to at least consider the potential risk to the community.”

She said she is not sure whether the university is considering the impact of a vaccine requirement on Lane County as a community. While mandating the vaccine is a lot to consider, she said the best idea for right now is to make it accessible for everyone, and then maybe we will reach the point of herd immunity before it becomes necessary to require it. 

“The response to COVID, vaccines, masks and everything is so politicized in this country, it’s toxic. Other countries have to deal with outbreaks and the challenges of COVID and variants, but they don’t have to deal with this toxic stew of Republican versus Democrat,” Yarris said. “So I think that makes this all the more complicated, like we’re acting in an environment where a mandate may be viewed as a Democratic donor influence.”

The UO Graduate Teaching Fellows Federation President Rajeev Ravinsankar said the union’s main concern about the lack of vaccine proof is that they will not know the percentage of students that have been vaccinated, so it makes the risk level unclear. 
“UO’s tendency has been to posture toward having more in-person activities without ensuring even basic compliance with safety protocols on campus,” Ravinsankar said. “So what fall looks like should be contingent on what level of vaccination we have attained for the campus community.”