College campuses must plan for a mandatory COVID-19 vaccination program.

27th, October 2020

Addressing transmission among young adults is an urgent public health priority. Recent evidence published in the  MMWR and Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, indicated that early increases in the percent positivity among persons aged ≤24 years were followed by several weeks of increasing percent positivity in persons aged ≥25 years.

This was especially the case in the West, Mid-west, and Southern states. Moreover, it has been argued that college campuses, in part, are driving community spread  – for example – counties in Wisconsin , Mississippi, and Georgia. The latent community spread following increased positivity rates on college campuses can lead to “a huge fracture in the town and gown relationship” as described by Russell Edwards – a member of the Athens-Clarke County Commission. 

Colleges and universities can draw important lessons from vaccine mandates in recent efforts by higher education administrators to combat the flu. For example, to battle any impending flu outbreaks, Indiana University recently made an announcement that all students, staff, and faculty whose work or class schedule requires them regularly to be on campus to get a flu vaccine and report it to the university for the remainder of the fall 2020 semester and subsequent flu season.

Similarly,  Dr. Michael V. Drake, President of the University of California system  published  an executive order requiring students, faculty, and staff living, learning, or working on premises at any UC location to receive a flu vaccine, unless they have an approved medical exemption or disability or religious accommodation.

These considerations must be taken as a critical step to reduce the likelihood of the COVID-19 disease among students, faculty and staff, particularly those on campus, and in turn to reduce the likelihood of community spread and our health systems being overwhelmed. Colleges and universities must act now to set up an action plan for a COVID-19 vaccine rollout.

 

Specific activities to include in a blueprint for a rollout on campuses are listed below.

 

1. COVID-19 vaccination messages from the administration must be clear, accurate, science-based, and up-to-date.

2. Coordination of the COVID-19 vaccination program efforts should be centralized and supported by the board.

3. Collaboration with students, faculty and staff in developing a rollout plan is imperative.

4. A system to request medical exemptions should be developed and implemented along with a process for appeals.

5. A system to request disability or religious accommodations should be developed and implemented with a process for appeals.

6. COVID-19 vaccines should be provided at no-cost to students, faculty and staff regardless of their ability to pay or health insurance coverage.

7. Universities and colleges must coordinate with state and federal authorities to facilitate execution of their COVID-19 vaccination program.

8. Universities and colleges should determine how COVID-19 vaccination requirements fit within established policies including SOPs, admissions, and student, faculty and staff conduct policies, etc.

9. Universities and colleges must establish a monitoring and evaluation system to track vaccine coverage, possibly include it as part of institutional research, and let appropriate data be transparent to the college/university community.

Deployment and uptake of a safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine among college students will help decrease infection rates across the U.S. as college campuses continue to be a factor in community spread of the disease.

A cohesive and comprehensive plan for COVID-19 vaccine deployment on campuses is needed. This article highlighted some areas that should be considered in developing a COVID-19 vaccine deployment strategy for college campuses.