‘This is deadly serious.’ Over 2,000 sign letter calling for vaccine mandate at UK.
More than 2,000 people have signed an open letter calling on the University of Kentucky to require the COVID-19 vaccine for students and employees, saying a mandate “is the single most powerful tool we have available at this time to achieve our goal of providing a robust, in-person experience for our students.”
The letter, written by a group of university senators and addressed to UK President Eli Capilouto and Acting Provost Robert DiPaola, has been signed by nearly 800 faculty members and 800 students as of Friday morning. Staff and community members have also signed the letter, which was published earlier this week.
“It is urgent that we adopt a vaccine mandate immediately,” the letter says. “The community spread of COVID has reached critical levels in Kentucky.”
On Thursday, Kentucky had its second-highest single-day total of new COVID-19 cases since the beginning of the pandemic: 5,457. Of those new cases, 32.5% are in children 18 and younger. There was also a record number of people hospitalized with coronavirus, and according to the Kentucky Department for Public Health, 87% of the state’s ICU beds are currently occupied.
Lauren Cagle, Molly Blasing and Jerry Woodward are three professors who worked on writing the letter after UK started the fall semester without a vaccine requirement. The three said they view a vaccine mandate as necessary in order to protect themselves, students and the community as a whole.
Woodward, a professor in the department of microbiology and immunology, researches and studies vaccines, including the COVID-19 vaccine. The best way to protect the community and prevent more deaths from coronavirus is into get more people vaccinated, he said.
“This is deadly serious,” Woodward said. “This is the most important issue that I have ever encountered in my 35 years at UK.”
UK has around 30,000 students and 20,000 employees. As of Sept. 1, the most recently available information from the university’s COVID-19 dashboard, 78.7% of students and employees are fully or partially vaccinated.
Woodward said the percentage of people vaccinated needs to be higher in order to limit the spread of COVID-19. A mandate means thousands of more people at UK would get vaccinated. Universities can take a “leadership role” in influencing more people to get vaccinated, Woodward said.
“If we raise the percentage of people who are vaccinated, we simply limit the number of people who are going to be spreading (COVID-19),” Woodward said.
Even with breakthrough cases, where an individual has been vaccinated but gets COVID-19, their symptoms will typically be less severe and for a shorter period of time, Woodward said.
UK requires masks to be worn indoors on campus, and unvaccinated students and employees are required to be tested weekly for COVID-19. UK Healthcare employees are required to be vaccinated by Sept. 15.
Capilouto has said a vaccine mandate is not off the table for UK. Spokesperson Jay Blanton said UK “will pivot if and when necessary to ensure the health, safety and well-being of the community,” with the top priority now being encouraging vaccines.
Students and employees who are vaccinated are eligible for prizes, like scholarships and tickets to football and basketball games.
“Our goal is to vaccinate as many people in our campus community as quickly as possible,” Blanton said. “We agree that vaccinations are the best tool – without question – against the virus. It’s why UK led the way in the state this past year in vaccinating now more than 135,000 people throughout the state and on our campus. We’ve been leaders in this important health measure. And we are leaders now in vaccinating members of our community.”
A vaccine mandate at UK would mean protecting the wider community from COVID-19, including immunocompromised people, young children and elderly people, said Blasing, an associate professor of Russian studies. It also means that the university would be able to continue with in-person learning next semester.
Blasing said even with a vaccine mandate, “it’s not going to make COVID disappear.” However, it means cases would be less severe and would lessen community spread, which is important for making sure the university can remain open this fall, she said.
“It’s not going to mean that there won’t be quarantines and disruptions and people getting sick, but it will be dramatically reduced,” Blasing said. “I think it’s the key to spring semester, and to the integrity of fall semester, the end of the fall semester and that transition into spring.”
Several private colleges in Kentucky have announced they will require vaccines, including Berea College, Bellarmine University, Centre College and Transylvania University.
No public university in Kentucky has announced a vaccine requirement. Across the country, more than 1,000 colleges and universities have announced they will require the vaccine, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education.
“UK is not responsible for making sure that all our lives are zero risk, but UK is responsible for making sure they are not imposing risk on us against our will,” said Cagle, an assistant professor of writing, rhetoric and digital studies.
“If they’re not mandating the vaccine, they’re not using all the tools available (to fight COVID-19),” Blasing said.
UK will hold its first home football game of the season on Saturday. Attendees are not required to show proof of vaccination or a negative test to attend. Masks are required in indoor spaces at Kroger Field.
“We’re not unsympathetic to the administration’s concerns about this, but we still think that this is the flagship university of the Commonwealth of Kentucky,” Blasing said. “We are leaders. We know the science, we trust the science. I believe the provost and the president absolutely do, and what our letter is doing is providing support for them to take that difficult step, but it’s a step in the right direction.”
This story was originally published September 3, 2021 at 12:41 PM.