Muma doesn’t foresee campus COVID-19 vaccine mandate
Interim President Rick Muma and Interim Provost Shirley Lefever spoke at a virtual faculty and staff town hall on April 2.
Interim President Rick Muma does not foresee a university COVID-19 vaccine mandate, he said during a faculty and staff virtual town hall Friday.
“I don’t really see that happening,” Muma said. “One good reason [is that] the vaccine is still given under emergency use authorization, in that kind of circumstance it becomes difficult to require something that hasn’t received full approval by the FDA.”
Due to a recent order by the Kansas governor, all Kansans are qualified to receive a vaccination through their county. All faculty, staff, and students can receive their vaccination through Student Health Services.
Faculty Senate President Aleks Sternfeld-Dunn said that if the university were to have a vaccine mandate in the future, that would not be due to a WSU decision.
“To be clear, this is not a decision we would make as an individual organization,” he said. “It would be a legal mandate from our state or federal government.”
“A legal mandate or something that has widespread acceptance and we’re not really seeing that at this point,” Muma said.
“The big stumbling block is the vaccine is still under emergency authorization.”
WSU announced Friday that they are removing all COVID-19 mandates, including mask wearing and social distancing guidelines. This decision follows the decision of the county to rescind all COVID health orders.
The university’s current plan is to return to “post-pandemic normal” by June 1— which means in-person classes and events and less remote working.
Lindsay Smith is the former editor-in-chief and newsletter editor for The Sunflower. Smith was a journalism major at Wichita State with a minor in creative...
Edwina L Beard • Apr 5, 2021 at 9:30 pm
As an alumni of WSU I would hope the leadership will work toward continually sharing medical information regarding the spread of a virus. We are still in a pandemic.
If you question the value of receiving the vaccine since it does not have full approval may I suggest that for one week you compare two numbers from news accounts. How many died that day from Covid-19? How many died that day from taking the vaccine? Which group would you like to join?
Regarding the benefits of masks look up prior year’s statistics on flu illness and death. Consider if recent wearing of masks may have saved some lives with that virus. No one is making you wear a mask. As an alumni I am hoping that this inconvenience is not to much for today’s students.
Make WSU look smart. Care for those around you by wearing masks, maintaining distance and washing hands frequently. The reason to do this is not because you are told to follow such guidelines. The reason to do this is because an educated medical community still tells us it saves lives.
Fake President Bardo • Apr 3, 2021 at 10:25 am
Coward.
As always,
Fake President Bardo