The college vaccine debate

Most U.S. colleges and universities already require on-campus students to show proof of vaccines for illnesses, like bacterial meningitis, that can spread rapidly in close quarters. But Covid-19 is a much more complicated story.

A growing number of schools will require proof of a coronavirus vaccination for on-campus students this fall, including Cornell, Rutgers, Oakland University in Michigan, Brown University in Rhode Island and St. Edward’s University in Texas. Other schools are not requiring vaccines but will offer incentives, such as an exemption from the campus mask mandate.

“Vaccines are our way of ensuring that we can be together for a normal fall semester,” Tom Stritikus, the president of Fort Lewis College in Colorado wrote in a letter to the school.

Many more schools have yet to set a policy, or have explicitly said they would not require proof. And the issue of requiring vaccinations is shaping up to be yet another political debate.