The Delta College Board of Trustees voted to mandate COVID-19 vaccines for all employees and students during its Aug. 17 meeting.
Members of the board casted a 6-1 vote in favor of this implementation after Trustee Teresa Brown expressed concern for the health of students and employees prior to motioning a mandate recommendation from the Return to Campus Subcommittee.
“I’ve had covid and I’m still dealing with the after-effects,” said Brown. “I don’t want this to happen to anybody else if it doesn’t have to.”
Trustee Catherine Mathis provided the second for Brown’s motion to proceed and later thanked the board for its decision.
“ I truly believe we saved some lives,” said Mathis. “I hope that everybody who is eligible gets a vaccine, not just for yourself but for those who cannot get them. They are depending on us, this is a community effort.”
The recommendation from the Return to Campus Subcommittee motioned in the meeting states all employees and students accessing district and college facilities will need to show proof of having both vaccine doses or approved exemptions by Oct. 15.
This includes students attending in-person/hybrid classes, student services and any indoor activities happening on Delta’s campus.
Vaccines will not be required for students taking courses fully online.
The mandate applies to students registering for classes for the Spring 2022 semester and will not affect those enrolled in Fall 2021 courses.
Students and staff may not get vaccinated if they have approved religious exemptions or by showing proof of having a documented medical condition that makes them unsuitable for the vaccines.
Those exempted from the mandate are required to get tested for COVID-19 at least twice a week.
Not everyone agreed with the board’s decision.
Trustee Lance Elliot was the only member of the board to vote against the mandate.
“I don’t see how keeping these people [students] from school is going to help them,” he said. “We’re keeping them from coming to school because of a virus that has a 99.6 percent survivability rate.”
Elliot even doubts the vaccine’s efficacy to protect against the virus.
“I don’t think this vaccine works as well as they’re telling us,” said Elliot.
Classified Senate member Susan Rodriguez made comments opposing the mandate.
“We are getting some pushback because we’re telling people what they need to do with their health care, and that should really be decided by their physician and them,” said Rodriguez. “I don’t know what this is going to do to our students’ enrollment because I know a lot of people, I have a lot of friends that know that I work there and they’ve been worried about whether or not we’re mandating vaccines for students, and the majority of them have said that if we mandate vaccines they will not be at Delta.”