UNC-CH reports fall’s first COVID cluster, as campus leaders debate requiring vaccines
UNC-Chapel Hill announced its first cluster of COVID-19 cases of the fall semester Wednesday, just as campus leaders, faculty, staff and students discussed their concerns about semester plans and a lack of a campus vaccine mandate.
The six cases are related to an event in the Eshelman School of Pharmacy. The report comes the day before move-in starts Thursday for thousands of students and exactly a week before in-person classes are set to begin on campus.
Responses to the news on Twitter echo the sentiments of several members of Wednesday’s Campus & Community Advisory Committee Meeting, who say the university should require COVID-19 vaccines for all students and employees.
“If we’re not going to require the vaccine then we shouldn’t have a full reopening with dorms at maximum capacity and classes in-person,” professor Seth Noar said.
He said that UNC-CH, as a leading public research university, isn’t following the science or the research on this issue. Noar also said the mandate would be a nudge for those who are hesitant to get vaccinated.
“I think we’re letting the anti-vaccine crowd win this conversation,” Noar said. “I’m just disappointed that we’re not doing the right thing.”
In the meeting, UNC-CH Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz said officials know there will be positive cases on campus, including some breakthrough cases in people who are fully vaccinated. But, he said, experts think the university can navigate the spread of the virus and maintain in-person operations thanks to UNC-CH’s vaccination rates and mandatory weekly testing for those who are not vaccinated.
While it’s not currently in place, Guskiewicz said he and Provost Bob Blouin support a vaccine mandate.
“I’m going to continue to advocate where I can, when I can — based on the guidance and advice our public health and infectious disease experts have given us — why in fact a mandate and the vaccine itself, most importantly, works,” Guskiewicz said.
He said the UNC System office is talking to chancellors about what they can and cannot do at this point. Chancellors were told they don’t have the authority to mandate vaccines, Guskiewicz said, but that could change.
The UNC System has cited a “lack of clear legal authority” in the matter and advised the campuses that only the North Carolina Commission for Public Health may mandate immunizations for college students.
However, private universities in North Carolina, including Duke University, Shaw University and Elon University are requiring students to be vaccinated.
Vaccinations by the numbers
At the meeting Wednesday, Guskiewicz shared updated vaccination numbers for the campus community.
As of Tuesday, 84% of students who will be living and learning on campus this semester have attested that they are vaccinated, he said.
About 3,200 have not yet attested to being vaccinated, and they will be required to be tested weekly unless they upload their vaccination information before classes start.
About 64% of staff and 92% of faculty reported being fully vaccinated, and those numbers are climbing daily, Guskiewicz said.
The university is also randomly auditing those attestations and so far, the audits have shown a “high level” of authenticity for reported vaccinations. But this can only be done for those vaccinated in North Carolina.
Guskiewicz also noted that more than 75% of individuals in Orange County are fully vaccinated. That is the best county rate in the state.
Dr. Amir Barzin, who runs UNC-CH’s COVID-19 testing program, also said that UNC-CH’s vaccination numbers are close to those at campuses such as Duke University that are requiring vaccines, given the exemptions.
Guskiewicz reinforced that statement and questioned why faculty would feel safer with a mandate if the vaccination numbers are the same and there’s frequent testing for unvaccinated individuals.
Pushback from professors, students
“I do not feel safe,” law professor Thomas Kelley said at the meeting.
He’s vaccinated but knows that’s not going to prevent him from being exposed to COVID-19 when he starts teaching in person next week. He’s mostly concerned about breakthrough cases and developing long-haul symptoms.
“I still don’t understand why we don’t have a mandatory vaccination policy,” Kelley said. “I’ve heard legal arguments, but none that are convincing.”
School of Government professor Jill Moore said the North Carolina Commission for Public Health sets immunization requirements for children to attend school, and shouldn’t apply in this case. Another state law requires students at private and public universities to show proof of those childhood immunizations. These laws don’t say the commission sets the vaccination requirements for college students.
So, Moore argues, state law doesn’t prevent universities from requiring students to get this vaccine. She also referenced local private university mandates and the case at Indiana University where a court ruled in favor of a vaccine mandate.
Professor Sharon Holland also said she’s hearing from faculty that a mandate would provide an “extra edge of safety” for parents worried about their children who aren’t able to be vaccinated.
The experts did change math professor Richard McLaughlin’s mind on the vaccine mandate. He said he became convinced that it wouldn’t make a huge difference in terms of safety, considering the reported vaccination rates and mask protocols.
“I feel like the data the experts provided us put me at ease,” McLaughlin said. “I have to hope students, faculty and staff will be honest in reporting.”
Still, students at the meeting weren’t so confident.
Neal Swamy, president of the Graduate and Professional Student Federation, said the university’s ability to capture the true vaccination rate is limited, even with the audit process. And fully vaccinated individuals can acquire and spread the infection to those who are more vulnerable, which he’s not comfortable with.
“I would feel far safer knowing that my risk of having an infection is as low as possible based on institutional policy,” Swamy said. “And I don’t think we’re in that place right now.”
For Ethan Phillips, who represents the undergraduate student body, the vaccine mandate would relieve a lot of the anxiety students feel coming into the fall semester.
“I’ve heard from many of my peers just how stressful it is going into a reopening that feels very similar to what we’ve tried in the past without a vaccine mandate in place,” Phillips said.
Classes start in Chapel Hill Wednesday, Aug. 18.
This story was originally published August 11, 2021 at 4:35 PM with the headline "UNC-CH reports fall’s first COVID cluster, as campus leaders debate requiring vaccines."
