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Some universities to require students be vaccinated this fall. What about YSU?

By Ellen Wagner
Youngstown State University hosts vaccine clinic at Beeghly Center. The right half of the room is for people to fill out their information before going behind the screen to for the first dose of the Moderna vaccine. The left side is for people to sit for their 15 minute monitoring period after receiving the vaccine. (Ellen Wagner | Mahoning Matters)
Youngstown State University hosts vaccine clinic at Beeghly Center. The right half of the room is for people to fill out their information before going behind the screen to for the first dose of the Moderna vaccine. The left side is for people to sit for their 15 minute monitoring period after receiving the vaccine. (Ellen Wagner | Mahoning Matters)

YOUNGSTOWN — As the 2020-21 school year winds down, many universities are already looking ahead to the fall — and envisioning the newest new normal for campus life.

Cleveland State University announced this week that students intending to live on campus this fall will be required to be vaccinated for COVID-19, according to cleveland.com. About 10 percent of students live on campus, and about 16,000 students are enrolled at CSU.

Youngstown State University Spokesperson Ron Cole said there has been no discussions so far about requiring students to have vaccines in order to return to campus for the 2021-22 school year.

Earlier this month, the university announced intentions to return campus operations to near-normal levels for the 2021 fall semester starting in August, which includes more face-to-face classes, more students in residence halls and more activities and events on campus.

The major focus of the university is to make the campus as safe as possible for students to return, Cole said. YSU is working to do wastewater testing, classroom surface testing, increase available COVID-19 testing and fine-tune other safety protocols.

Cole said the university also wants to educate students and employees on the importance of vaccines and provide as many convenient opportunities as possible for them to get vaccinated.

YSU hosted two vaccine clinics in Beeghly Center on March 30 and April 6 that vaccinated about 2,000 students, faculty, staff and family members, Cole said.

As part of DeWine’s initiative to vaccinate college students, YSU will have two more vaccine clinics on Tuesday (April 13) and on April 20 to receive the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, said Julie Gentile, director of Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety. The clinics are open to students only who can sign up for an appointment via an all-student email.

In an article from WKYC, the station reached out to other Ohio colleges and universities asking for plans and policies for vaccinating students.

Miami University does not plan to require the vaccine until there is final FDA approval but encourages students, faculty and staff to get the vaccine. Ohio State University, Kent State University, John Carroll University and Bowling Green also will not require the vaccine but encourage the campus community to get it.

The University of Akron and Baldwin Wallace University have not made any decisions if the vaccine will be required for the fall, according to WKYC.

Other universities and colleges across the country have started to create requirements that students need to be fully vaccinated before returning to campuses for the fall semester.

In an article from Forbes, Brown University, Northwestern University, Cornell University, Rutgers University, Fort Lewis College, Nova Southeastern University, St. Edwards University and Roger Williams University are among the universities to mandate the vaccination for the fall so far.

“The decision to vaccinate all returning students this fall comes as data demonstrates that college students contribute significantly to transmission of COVID-19,” according to the article from Forbes.

This story was originally published April 9, 2021 at 4:11 AM with the headline "Some universities to require students be vaccinated this fall. What about YSU?."