FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WOWO): Purdue Fort Wayne announced that there will not be a vaccine mandate for the spring semester.
The announcement was made to students, faculty and staff Thursday afternoon, calling the move “simply not feasible.”
Chancellor Ron Elsenbaumer says the decision took into account the disruption a major policy change would cause for students in the middle of the of an academic year.
The decision was based on recommendations from the PFW Ready Committee, campus surveys, two student town halls, weekly PFW Ready Q&A sessions for faculty and staff and input from the Faculty Senate.
Elsenbaumer says the lack of a vaccine mandate “does not change our commitment to the critical importance of being vaccinated.”
You can view the full letter here.
1 comment
Finally a school with a brain. There are still too many unanswered questions regarding cardiac side effects in younger populations. Also a full risk benefit calculation needs to be completed in children to evaluate side effects verses the odds of becoming ill with COVID. It is important to note that the new variants appear to be more infective in children then the original strain of COVID . The Pfizer vaccine appears to have the lower risk probably due to the fact that it is only 30mcg/dose and the Moderna is 100mcg/dose. Early phase one studies in animals with a dose of 250mcg had some very serious negative outcomes resulting in a lower dose of 100mcg being selected for humans. The J & J vaccine appears to be associated with more side effects that the two mRNA vaccines. However because the Pfizer vaccine uses a lower and possibly safer dose it may require a booster dose sooner than the other vaccines.
In older populations i.e. 40 + vaccines do not appear to cause the same level of negative side effects and therefore remain the best option for in this age group to prevent SARS-CoV-2 infections.